Mercer Places Fourth at SoCon Championship

Tuesday, April 25

Lexington, S.C.

Mercer University

Southern Conference Championship

4/25/2017 9:20:00 PM | Women's Golf

Complete Results Photo Gallery

By: Patrick T. Walsh

LEXINGTON, S.C. – Marin Hanna finished tied for 11^th at 7-over-par and concluded her final collegiate tournament with a 40-foot putt as she led Mercer to a fourth-place finish in a rain-shortened Southern Conference Championship at the Country Club of Lexington on Tuesday.

Mercer ended the 36-hole tournament in fourth place at 39-over-par 615, placing ahead of UNCG by three strokes and four strokes past Samford. The SoCon Championship, originally scheduled for 54 holes (three rounds), saw inclement weather force the cancellation of Monday's round.

Hanna's monster putt closed out a 7-over-par performance for the senior in her final tournament as she tied for 11^th, her highest placing in three years as a member of the Southern Conference. Freshman Lauren Lightfritz posted a team-best 4-over-par 76 round Tuesday to finish 9-over-par 153 for the tournament and in 14^th place.

Notable for Mercer was a much improved finish to the tournament in the final round. After four of five Bears bogeyed Hole 18 (par-5, 483 yards) in the opening round, Tuesday's action witnessed four pars and a birdie (Terese Romeo). Hanna sunk a 40-foot shot on 18 green to keep a par number on the hole.

In all Mercer excelled on the par 5s throughout the tournament as the Bears led the field with a 5.05 (+1 relative to par) average on all par 5s.

MERCER SCORECARD

4.	Mercer	303	312	+39	615
T-11.	Marin Hanna	74	77	+7	151
14.	Lauren Lightfritz	77	76	+9	153
T-15.	Tiffany Minji Kang	75	80	+11	155
T-23.	Terese Romeo	77	79	+12	156
T-30.	Hannah Mae Deems	77	81	+14	158

MERCER ON THE TEAM LEADERBOARD
The Bears maintained their position in fourth place, finishing 39-over-par for the tournament. The strong finish Tuesday kept the Bears three strokes ahead of UNCG (+42) and four shots ahead of Samford (+43) while ETSU (+30) edged Mercer for third place by nine strokes. Furman, ranked 10^th in the country, won the team title at 8-under-par while Chattanooga was the runner-up at 20-over-par.

The fourth place finish matches Mercer's best finish at a SoCon Championship tournament.

MERCER ON THE INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
The Bears placed three golfers in the top-15 with Marin Hanna (+7) leading the way as she tied for 11^th with Lauren Lightfritz (+9) following at 14^th. Tiffany Minji Kang posted an 11-over-par performance in her first conference championship event as she tied for 15^th. Terese Romeo placed tied for 23^rd at 12-over-par while Hannah Mae Deems was tied for 30^th at 14-over-par.

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