Kent State stays perfect with Mercedes-Benz win
Kent State's women (Kent State Athletics/Twitter photo)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 18, 2018) – The Kent State women remain undefeated on the fall season after a second victory in as many weeks at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate. The Golden Flashes fought tough scoring conditions to finish 54 holes at 18-over par, good for a five-shot victory on Middle Tennessee State.
Kent State pushed through miserable weather on Monday morning and still salvaged a first-round 19-over 303 at Cherokee Country Club. The team shaved 19 shots from the first round to the second round later that day. A second-round, even-par 284 was the best afternoon score by at least six shots, and left Kent State in second entering the final round. A 1-under 283 on Tuesday, the only under-par round from the field for the event.
A week ago, Kent State won the Branch Law Invite. The Golden Flashes were ranked No. 13 in the WGCA preseason coaches’ poll that came out earlier this month, and it looks like they could have been higher.
Kent State placed two players inside the top 10 on the individual leaderboard – Michaela Finn at T-5 and Pimnipa Panthong at T-8. Kentucky’s Leonie Bettel won the individual title at 5-under 208. She had a final-round 6-under 65 that bumped her four shots up the leaderboard.
While Middle Tennessee, playing in its home state, was the next-closest team, Charlotte produced the real drama. The team is only in its second year of existence and still searching for its first program win. Charlotte flirted with that at the Mercedes-Benz, only to finish 24 over and six shots behind Kent State.
Illinois tied Charlotte for third and host Tennessee was part of a tie for fifth with Texas-San Antonio and Eastern Kentucky.
ABOUT THE Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate
54 hole women's college
tournament hosted by the University of Tennessee.
Team (best four scores out of five players each
round)
and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information