Mercer University
Coastal Georgia Invitational
Women's Golf Rallies to Win Coastal Georgia Invitational
2/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
St. Simons Isle, Ga. – Sophomore Aurelie Wiriath captured the individual title at the Coastal Georgia Invitational, defeating Shorter's Greta Lange in a playoff hole after leading Mercer to a first-place finish at the event. As a team, Mercer finished the event with a two-round total of 646, edging Shorter by a single stroke.
Wiriath's 75 on Tuesday came in conjunction with an opening round 80 and tied her with Lange atop the individual leader board. In the second playoff hole, Wiriath carded a par while Lange signed for a bogey, giving Wiriath her first collegiate tournament victory.
In difficult conditions, Mercer battled its way to a team score of 327 on Tuesday, besting the next closest team by seven strokes. Mercer's final total of 646 placed the team ahead of Shorter (647), SCAD Savannah (651), West Georgia (694), Coastal Georgia (698), Young Harris (738), SCAD Atlanta (745) and North Georgia (765).
"We played well in extremely tough conditions today," Mercer head coach Gary Guyer said. "Everyone kept grinding and stayed focused and we ended up winning by one shot. I've stressed how important one shot can be and it's great we were able to pull this one out."
Mercer's final round 327 raised the team from the third-place position it occupied following the opening round.
Mercer Freshman Lacey Fears and junior Kaitlin Marrin also posted top-10 finishes, placing tied for sixth and tied for ninth, respectively. Fears' used 84 strokes on Tuesday for a two-round total of 162 while Marrin posted an 83, bringing her tournament score to 164.
Junior Alicia Poole shot 85 on Tuesday and finished 11th among the 44-golfer field while her classmate Keri Lynn Carson took home a 32nd place finish with back-to-back 93's.
The team's victory marked the second tournament title of the year for the Bears. On Sept. 20, Mercer bested 10 other schools at the Eat a Peach Collegiate.
Mercer returns to competitive play at the Barefoot at the Beach tournament on March 6-7. The event is hosted by the College of Charleston and will take place at the Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Players Mentioned
