Mercer University
Golfweek Program Challenge
Women's Golf Records Sixth Place Finish at Golfweek Program Challenge
9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Mercer University women's golf team wrapped up the Golfweek Program Challenge with a team score of 302 (+18) on Tuesday to earn a sixth place finish in the 18-team field.
MERCER LINEUP RESULTS
|
NAME |
TODAY'S ROUND |
TOTAL SCORE |
PLACE |
|
Mary Janiga |
72 (+1) |
217 (+4) |
T-7th |
|
71 (E) |
221 (+8) |
T-16th |
|
|
79 (+8) |
227 (+14) |
T-18th |
|
|
80 (+9) |
229 (+16) |
T-22nd |
|
|
85 (+14) |
237 (+24) |
T-28th |
MERCER SPOTLIGHT
Freshman Payton Schanen turned in a masterful final round on Tuesday, shooting a team-best 71 (E). Schanen carded two birdies and three bogeys through the front nine, giving her a 36 at the turn. After parring the first four holes of the back nine, the freshman birdied the par four 14th hole to get back to even for the day. Schanen closed out her round with four straight pars to finish even.
HOLE OF THE DAY
Junior Marin Hanna found herself in trouble on the fifth, driving the ball too far left and behind a tall pine tree. Hanna astutely laid up in front of the green side bunker and then hit a nearly perfect placed pitch shot to three feet of the cup. The junior tapped finished the hole by tapping in to save par.
THE BEARS IN THE TEAM STANDINGS
Mercer finished the three day tournament in sixth place, after carding a 302 to finish the GolfWeek Program Challenge at +42. The Bears' finished just one stroke outside of a top-5 finish as Gardner-Webb totaled a +41. Mercer finished four strokes in front of Stetson and 13 ahead of James Madison.
COACH DRINKARD'S TAKE
"This is the first tournament and we have a lot we can build off. We led the field in Par 3 scoring at 2.93 or 5-under-par. After the second round we were 2nd in pars and also led in birdies. Mary and Payton played well and Jaelyn had an even par round that first day. Now we need to learn how to play as a team and put four scores together. Overall, I am very proud of how competitive this team is and the want to play well. The future is very bright for us."
MERCER NOTABLES
- Freshman Mary Janiga wrapped up a top-10 finish in her collegiate debut, carding a 1-over 72 on her way to a three-round total of 217 and a seventh place finish. Janiga posted seven birdies in the event, while finishing second out of the 90 players with 36 par holes.
- The Bears ranked second among the 18-team field with 36 birdies, while compiling a tournament-best score of 5-under on Par 3 holes.
- Mercer's final team score of 894 is the program's best three round total since carding an 888 at the 2014 Hurricane Invitational.
