Brennan's Bulls Finish Strong at American Championship
PHOTO GALLERY
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
PALM COAST, Fla., APRIL 17, 2018 – USF finished the season in stride by posting its top team score at the American Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship in Tuesday's final round.
USF placed ninth in the field after carding a 299, which was a 12-shot improvement from Monday's second round and 15 strokes better than the Bulls' opening-round score. Junior
Maria "Nani" Merchan helped lead the Bulls' final-round surge with a hole-in-one into the wind on the par-3, 145-yard 17
th hole at Hammock Beach Resort's Conservatory Course (par 72, 6,276 yards).
In her first American Athletic Conference Championship run,
Natalia Villavicencio led the lineup overall by placing 19
th in the 49-player field at 9-over (73-76-76). The junior from Santiago, Chile collected a team-leading nine birdies in the tournament and birdied holes 6-9 during her 1-under closing run on the front nine Tuesday.
Senior
Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon (Thailand) led the charge in the final round with a team-best 73 to move up to a tie for 39
th place with Merchan. The hole-in-one helped Merchan (Caracas, Venezuela) card her top score of the tournament with a 75.
Senior
Diana Gonzalez Pinto (Bogota, Colombia) also gave the Bulls a big boost in the final round by shooting a 75 to finish in 38
th place. Sophomore
Mariale Merchan (Caracas, Venezuela) was USF's second-best finisher in a tie for 32
nd place after leading the lineup with a 74 in the second round.
USF Scores
Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan's thoughts on the team's impressive finish at the conference tournament:
"I'm deeply satisfied with how things went today, especially after the start we got out to. It wasn't a very quick start and I felt like they hung in there and just continued to grind, especially through the middle part of the round. For Natalia to close out her round with four straight birdies, that was just such clutch golf coming down the stretch. It ended up being the difference in breaking 300, so it was a really cool day out there for us. Any time we can get below 300, for where we're at right now, that's a victory. To improve each round going through this tournament was really special."
Brennan on junior Natalia Villavicencio's 19th-place finish in first-ever run at the American Athletic Conference Championship:
"It was a solid feeling for her. I know she was disappointed with how her round started today, but she could have let that affect her and turned in a really big number. Instead, she just refused to go quietly into the night and that's what I love about her. The girl is gritty and she's going to fight and scrap. Natalia is the type of player that you know is always capable of making birdies. She proved that today and to close out the round with four birdies, that is just so strong."
Brennan on seniors Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon and Diana Gonzalez Pinto contributing with solid scores in the final round:
"These seniors are just an incredibly special group of young people. They saved their best for last and that speaks so much to me about their character. It's not shocking at all that they would be able to do that in their final round and kind of go out in a way that honored their investment and contributions over the past four years of their careers. I'm incredibly proud to be their coach and we are definitely going to feel their loss going forward."
Brennan on Maria "Nani" Merchan's hole-in-one on the par-3, 145-yard 17th hole:
"Nani's hole-in-one was so awesome. We felt like we got a good club, we felt good about the decision going into the shot and pretty much said, 'Go right at it,' based on where the flag was. She stood up there and just executed it literally right off the club face. The ball was just tracking and had eyes for the cup, it just never wavered. It was an absolute slam dunk because it actually tore up the cup. They had to come and cut a brand new cup for the rest of the girls to be able to play because there was no hop and there was no roll. It was cool that both her parents got to see it and we obviously celebrated loud and proud after that one because it was a beautiful hole-in-one."
Notable
- This spring marked USF's first semester competing under the guidance of head coach Erika Brennan, who helped the team make steady program improvement on and off the course.
- USF recorded one of three eagles in the tournament thanks to Maria "Nani" Merchan's hole-in-one on the 17th hole Tuesday.
- Mariale Merchan led the lineup with 35 pars while Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon was close behind with 33.
- Natalia Villavicencio collected a team-best nine birdies and shot par or better on 40 holes in the tournament.
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.
