Bulls Start Fall Season in Record-Breaking Fashion
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
MOBILE, Ala., SEPT. 15, 2018 – USF women's golf opened the fall season in stride, carding a program record 4-under 284 team score during its second-place start at the USA Intercollegiate on Saturday.
USF is just two shots away from leader California Baptist after topping the Bulls' previous 18-hole low round vs. par score of 2-under 286 set at the Johnie Imes Invitational on Sept. 28, 2015. The Bulls also broke the program's low round record of 285 set at the Hurricane Invitational on Feb. 29, 2016.
Ramya Meenakshisundaram led the way for the Bulls with a 3-under 69 that has the freshman tied for second and one shot off the lead at the three-day event. The Jacksonville, Fla., native birdied her first collegiate hole to spark a 2-under performance on the back nine and collected five total birdies.
Just a shot behind Meenakshisundaram is
Natalia Villavicencio, who carded a 2-under 70 to start in a tie for sixth in the 93-player field. The Santiago, Chile native rallied back from a 3-over start by shooting 5-under on her final 15 holes with five birdies.
Junior
Sadie Dewinton-Davies (Newtown, Wales) is tied for 20
th place after using four birdies to card an even-par 72 in her first round as a Bull.
Like Villavicencio,
Sophie Stone bounced back from a 3-over start, shooting 2-under on her final 14 holes and finishing with a 1-over 73. The senior from Oxford, England is only one shot outside the top 25.
Senior
Jacqueline Twitty (Chapin, S.C.) is just a shot behind Stone after carding a 74 that included a pair of birdies.
USF Scores
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Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan on USF's record-breaking performance Saturday:
"We are so encouraged with today's round. These girls do a tremendous job of staying committed to the small details and today it paid off in a really great way. To set new school records speaks to the grit of this group! They are so fun to work alongside each day!"
Freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram on her first collegiate round:
"I'm super excited to see how everyone played today. I was a little nervous going into my first round of college golf, but I played solid today and having the support of my teammates made this experience so much better. I can't wait to see what we can do tomorrow and the rest of the season."
Assistant coach Dalton Stevens on the Bulls' keys to success in Sunday's second round:
"Today was a great way to get the season started. We had some Bulls that really dug in after a slow start and really turned it on in the middle of their rounds. Getting off to a good start and finishing our rounds tomorrow is going to be the key for us. The focus of the team going into tomorrow's round will be to stay committed to our game plan and executing one shot at a time. The energy between the team on the course is very encouraging and knowing that everyone has each other's back will definitely help us as we tee it up tomorrow."
Up Next
Twitty will get USF's second round started from the first hole Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (EST). Follow the action in progress at the official Golfstat.com scoring page
HERE.
About USF Women's Golf
Nine-year veteran head coach Erika Brennan completed her first spring season with USF in 2018. Juniors Natalia Villavicencio and Maria "Nani" Merchan highlighted the 2017-18 season, combining to post four top-10 performances and 11 top-25 finishes, including eight in the spring. The 2018-19 roster includes three newcomers: transfers Jacqueline Twitty and Sadie Dewinton-Davies along with freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram. Â
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