Merchan Leads Host Bulls at Florida Challenge

Merchan Leads Host Bulls at Florida Challenge

TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
 
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

LECANTO, Fla., JAN. 29, 2018 – Maria "Nani" Merchan started the spring season with a solid finish against tough competition at the Monday's Florida Challenge.

Playing as an individual, Merchan shot par or better on 30 of 36 holes and tied for 14th among 57 competitors at Black Diamond Ranch (par 72, 6,039 yards). The junior from Caracas, Venezuela finished at 5-over and just two shots outside the top 10 in the fifth top-25 performance of her USF career.

As a team, host USF cut 12 shots off its first-round score in the afternoon and placed ninth at the event that featured No. 18 Florida, No. 24 Louisville, Miami, Kentucky, UCF, Jacksonville and Florida International. Miami (+6) edged Florida by a shot for the team title while UF's Sierra Brooks (-6) earned medalist honors by topping Miami's Dewi Weber by a stroke.

Junior Natalia Villavicencio (Santiago, Chile) led the USF lineup, tying for 34th place at 10-over. Senior Diana Gonzalez Pinto (Bogota, Colombia) finished just two shots behind Villavicencio in a tie for 38th place.

USF Team Scores
9 South Florida 322 310 632
T34 Natalia Villavicencio (1) 76 78 154
T38 Diana Gonzalez (4) 79 77 156
T47 Haley Danford (5) 85 77 162
T51 Sophie Stone (2) 87 78 165
T51 Diane Burress (3) 82 83 165
 
USF Individual Scores
Pos. Player (Team) Rd 1 Rd 2 Total
T14 Nani Merchan (South Florida) 74 75 149
44 Ning Phongpaiboon (South Florida) 77 82 159
57 Maddie Barrow (South Florida) 93 91 184
 
 
Up Next
USF continues its spring season at Louisville's Moon Golf Invitational that's set for Feb. 19-20 at Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, Fla.
 
About USF Women's Golf
USF heads into the spring season with a new head coach. Erika Brennan comes to USF after two seasons of leading the Southern Mississippi women's golf program. Brennan brings seven seasons of head coaching experience to the Bulls' program, having also served five seasons as women's golf head coach at nearby Saint Leo University, and nine years of collegiate coaching experience overall.

For the latest information on USF women's golf, follow the team on Twitter @USFWGolf and Facebook. 
 
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