Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Hurricane Invitational
NU Wins Second-Straight Hurricane Invitational Championship
3/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
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2015 Hurricane Invitational The Biltmore Golf Course • Coral Gables, Fla. • NU's Place: 1st/16 teams BirdieFire.com Scoring • Final Results  | |
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- On a difficult day for scoring at the Hurricane Invitational at The Biltmore Golf Course, Northwestern showed its resilience in battling through a tough start to Wednesday's final round and earning its second-straight team championship at the tournament.
The Wildcats carded a 13-over 297 in the final round to hold off the host Hurricanes by six strokes, winning the tournament with a final total of 7-over 859 (280-282-297). The 54-hole score was the second lowest in program history behind this year's 853 at the Stanford Intercollegiate, and it was five strokes better than NU's winning total in the Hurricane Invite one year ago.
The victory is the second for Northwestern this season and the fourth in stroke play for head coach Emily Fletcher, who led NU to the 2013 Big Ten Championship for her first-career tournament win. The Wildcats began this season with a victory at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, and last year won the Hurricane Invite as well as the stroke play portion of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
Though Northwestern entered the final round Wednesday with a commanding 13-stroke advantage, the victory was not at all a foregone conclusion. NU began the shotgun start on holes No. 1 through 3, and carded a combined 14 bogeys or worse on the front nine. Five more bogeys and two double bogeys in the first five holes of the back nine saw that lead shrink down to a single stroke over Miami, but from there Northwestern fought back to play under par golf down the stretch for the win.
All five Wildcats in the team lineup ended up in the top-21 of the individual standings. Fourteen of the 16 schools in the deep and talented field were ranked among the top-100 by Golfstat.com entering the event.
"We are so proud of our girls and how they kept fighting and finished so well. They deserve this win!" head coach Emily Fletcher said. "There was a lot of good out there today after a tough start. The conditions were tough and we just could not get any putts to drop."
After starting the tournament in rough shape with a 6-over 77 on Monday, Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (Bangkok, Thailand/Bromsgrove Christian School) led Northwestern in the final round and nearly made it all the way back into the top-20 via a Wednesday 1-over 72. The junior made three bogeys and two birdies during the final round to climb to 21st in the individual standings at 7-over 220 (77-71-72).
Freshman Hannah Kim (Chula Vista, Calif./Otay Ranch) entered the day with a two-stroke lead in the individual standings, but quickly suffered a double bogey on her first hole. Back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7 led to her turning at 4-over 39 before she recovered for an even-par back side and a final round 4-over 75. Kim recorded her second-consecutive individual runner-up performance, finishing at 1-over 214 (69-70-75) in a four-way tie for second place.
Senior Hana Lee (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Wilson) also had a 4-over 75 in the final round Wednesday. While she avoided the big score, she also did not drain any birdie putts on the day, carding 14 pars and four bogeys overall. Lee finished in eighth place for her first top-10 of the season with a 3-over 216 (68-73-75).
Kacie Komoto (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) was the third Wildcat to sign for a 4-over 75 on Wednesday. Her day started disastrously with a bogey and a triple bogey in her first two holes. Though she would later double bogey No. 10 to find herself 6-over par, Komoto played her final 10 holes in 2-under to get back to a 75 and a 13th-place tournament total of 5-over 218 (75-68-75).
Kaitlin Park (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) had four bogeys in her first six holes and did not fully recover, ending her day with a 6-over 77 to place 21st alongside Tangkamolprasert at 7-over 220 (68-75-77).
Freshman Sarah Cho (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) competed in the tournament as an individual and carded a final round 5-over 76 to place 48th overall at 12-over 225 (80-69-76).
Northwestern now is off to take winter quarter final exams before returning to competition March 27-29 at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Ga.
Northwestern - 1st/16 • 280-282-297=859 (+7)
T2 -- Hannah Kim -- 69-70-75=214 (+1)
T8 -- Hana Lee -- 68-73-75=216 (+3)
T13 -- Kacie Komoto -- 75-68-75=218 (+5)
T21 -- Suchaya Tangkamolprasert -- 77-71-72=220 (+7)
T21 -- Kaitlin Park -- 68-75-77=220 (+7)
T48 -- Sarah Cho * -- 80-69-76=225 (+12)
* Denotes playing as an individual
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