USF Athletics

Merchan Ties for Seventh at Briar's Creek Invitational

March 20, 2018

TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
 
 
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C., MARCH 20, 2018 – Maria "Nani" Merchan posted her best-ever finish as a Bull to lead USF women's golf at the Briar's Creek Invitational on Tuesday.

Merchan tied for seventh place in the 90-player field at 1-under after going 5-under during Monday's 36-hole action at The Golf Club at Briar's Creek (par 72, 6,101 yards). The junior from Caracas, Venezuela has registered two of her three career top-10 performances this season.

USF placed 14^th in the 17-team field and got its best score of the final round from Diana Gonzalez Pinto. The senior from Bogota, Colombia used four birdies to card a season-best 74.
 
USF Scores

14	South Florida	298	300	313	911
T7	Nani Merchan (1)	70	69	76	215
43	Natalia Villavicencio (2)	71	74	79	224
72	Diana Gonzalez (4)	85	76	74	235
T85	Ning Phongpaiboon (3)	78	81	86	245
89	Haley Danford (5)	79	85	84	248

 
Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan on Maria "Nani" Merchan's top-10 performance:
"Really, all things considered, Nani put up three solid rounds of golf. I know today certainly wasn't how she saw that final round going, but kudos to her for hanging in there. What's really encouraging now is a plus-4 round is disappointing for her, which speaks to how well she's playing this spring. I think she'll regroup and be back for Tulsa and be ready to go."

Brennan on Diana Gonzalez Pinto leading the lineup with USF's top score of the final round:
"The wind was up a little bit today and I think Diana was steady all day long. It seemed like even after a couple bogeys early on, she fought back with birdies on 1 and 2, which got her right back in it. She kind of stayed there with a bogey here and a birdie there. She kind of just fought the whole way and that's encouraging. It's definitely what you want to see, especially out of a senior."

Brennan on the Bulls getting to regroup before their final event of the regular season:
"It's going to be awesome now. We've got almost two full weeks to regroup. That's going to let us kind of dig into some of the detail things we continue to struggle with. I'm really encouraged that we're going to be home long enough to kind of get into that grunt work and get some things sorted out. Kudos to this team, they put up two really great rounds at this event. I know today didn't go the way that we wanted it to go, but I just really continue to be encouraged by this team and what they're doing."

Notable

• Maria "Nani" Merchan's previous best finish as a Bull was a tie for 10^th this season at the Moon Golf Invitational. Merchan also tied for 10^th at the SunTrust Gator Invitational as a freshman in 2016.
• Merchan finished the tournament with 11 birdies and an eagle. The junior shot par or better on 44 of 54 holes.

 
Up Next
USF will wrap up the regular season at the Dale McNamara Invitational April 9-10 in Tulsa, Okla.

About USF Women's Golf
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.