Junior Ailsa Clark fired another sub-70 round to capture medalist honors and lead the FGCU women's golf team to a record-destroying first-place finish in the Spring Break Shootout at Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club on Tuesday. This is the third straight top-2 finish for the Green and Blue through three spring events, and it's their first title since last year's MSU Citrus Classic.
After a record-tying 137 (-5) on Monday, Clark shot a two-under 69 to finish with a program-record 54-hole score of 206, which is five strokes better than Briana Carlson's 211 in 2011.
"Ailsa played phenomenal golf this week," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. "She has been working so hard on her game, and it is great to see it paying off for her. She was so instrumental in our win."
Along with another third-round 69 from freshman Laura Edmonds, the Eagles tied defending champion Western Kentucky with an 857 (+5), but won the event via a fifth-player tiebreaker. Edmonds had another stellar performance as the freshman fired an even-par 213 to tie for fourth-place individually. She improved her score by two strokes each round.
As a team, the Green and Blue's 857 (+5) is 19 strokes better than the program's previous 54-hole team low of 876, which they set twice this past fall. In fact, it's also seven strokes better than those two performances in relation to par.
"This group is so good at finishing srong and grinding it out for every shot," Trew said. "In the end, it came down to a scorecard playoff and one shot. I am so happy for this team and can't say enough good things about them."
Outside of Clark and Edmonds, two others also finished in the top 20 - senior Kelsy Holbert and sophomore Natalia Nassar. Those two each shot a 220 (+7) and tied for 18th-place individually, while senior Madeline Marck-Sherk finished with back-to-back rounds of 74 (+3) to close the event with a 224 (+11).
Individual Standings
1. Ailsa Clark - 67-70-69---206 (-7)
T-4. Laura Edmonds - 73-71-69---213 (E)
T-18. Natalia Nassar - 70-76-74---220 (+7)
T-18. Kelsy Holbert - 71-76-73---220 (+7)
T-41. Madeline Marck-Sherk - 76-74-74---224 (+11)
Team Standings (#GolfStat ranking as of March 5)
1. #107 FGCU - 281-291-284---857 (+5)
1. #119 WKU - 280-293-285---857 (+5)
1. #120 Troy - 291-280-295---866 (+14)
4. #159 Samford - 287-293-289---869 (+17)
5. #213 Austin Peay - 295-290-287---872 (+20)
6. #138 Jacksonville - 301-283-297---881 (+29)
7. #186 ULM - 298-288-297---883 (+31)
8. #169 Arkansas State - 290-295-298---884 (+32)
9. #203 Ball State - 290-295-309---894 (+42)
10. #188 Oakland - 290-302-307---899 (+47)
11. #173 Southern Illinois - 306-296-301---903 (+51)
12. #194 Little Rock - 299-303-307---909 (+57)
13. #208 Ohio - 296-309-306---911 (+59)
14. #200 Illinois State - 304-302-308---914 (+62)
15. #215 Belmont - 317-303-321---941 (+89)
Quotes From Other Coaches:
Troy: "I'm proud of the way we competed this week, but disappointed that we did not finish the job today," head coach Randy Keck said. "It's exciting to see the hard work we put in over the break play out on the golf course, now we need to continue to improve and take that next step to winning an event."
WKU: "I'm really proud of how the team performed this week," WKU head coach Adam Gary said. "It's awesome to set new records and personal bests. It's a shame we came up short in a playoff, but I think the team will take a lot of positives away from this week."
Jacksonville: "This tournament was a total team effort with production from everyone," said Head Coach Jennifer Borocz. "We rallied the last four to five holes to finish sixth. We know how we need to utilize our time off before our next event."
Southern Illinois: "The girls played well," SIU head coach Danielle Kaufman said. "We struggled in the first round, but made adjustments to finish strong."
Up Next:
The Eagles will be back in action March 31-April 2 in Stockbridge, Ga. competing in the John Kirk Panther Invitational, hosted by Georgia State.
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