DAHLONEGA, Ga. – UNCG's duo of Rachel Uremovich and Courtney Taylor combined for a score of 159 in the final round of the Hooters Women's Collegiate Team Championship on Thursday to finish tied for 25th place.
A surge over the final four holes propelled the team of Cheyenne Woods and Michelle Shin from Wake Forest to a two shot victory in the inaugural Hooters Women's Collegiate Team Championship presented by the National Golf Coaches Association at Achasta, By Reynolds.
Woods walked to the 15th tee with her team down two shots, but the junior rolled in an eagle putt, while her teammate made a birdie, finally catching the pair of Brooke Pancake and Jennifer Kirby from Alabama as the two groups made their way to the 16th hole tied at 13-under-par.
Shin and Woods then dialed in the putter and drained birdies on 16 and 17 respectively, while Alabama's Pancake saw a three foot birdie putt lip out on the par 3 17th hole to send her team to the 18th down by two strokes where Woods/Shin captured the championship at 15-under-par.
Alabama's Pancake and Kirby, who led from wire-to-wire were awarded the runner-up award, finishing the tournament at 13-under-par, while Stetson's Alexandria Buelow and Lauren Cate carded a final round two-under-par to finish third overall.
Virginia's Brittany Altimore and Elizabeth Brightwell entered the final round at 10-under-par, but a 3-over-par final round placed the pair in sole possession of fourth place, while Florida's Jessica Yadloczky and Evan Jensen moved up on the final day to round out the top five at 5-under-par for the championship.
Ashland University's Annie Miles and Erin Misheff ran away with the NCAA Division II low score of the championship, finishing 16th overall at 4-over-par, while Katie Schenfeld and Taylor Drenttel from Gustavus Adolphus University edged out Katie Maurer and Catherine Wagner from Wisconsin Eau Claire by one shot to capture the DIII/NAIA championship.
Taylor shot 76 on the day Thursday, while Uremovich carded an 83. Taylor played both sides in 38, while Uremovich went out in 40 and came back in 43.
Taylor was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and an all-conference selection last season. The native of Gastonia, N.C finished fifth in the league in stroke average at 75.41. She recorded five Top 10 finishes in her rookie season, with four of those coming in her final six tournaments of the year. She finished fifth at the SoCon Championship in April.
Uremovich is a native of Hilton Head, S.C., who sat out this past season as a redshirt after earning all-state all four years in high school. She was the 2006 Carolinas Junior Player of the Year, winning the South Carolina Junior Girls' Match Play Championship and the Twin States' Junior Girls' Championship that year. She played earlier this summer in the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
- UNCG -