USF Athletics

Smith Leads Bulls in Fall Season Opener

September 17, 2019

TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
 
 
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TOLEDO, Ohio, SEPT. 17, 2019 – Playing in her first collegiate event on a tough course, freshman Erika Smith finished strong with a 1-under 71 in the final round of the Glass City Invitational.

Smith had a bogey-free run on the back nine and shot par or better on 16 holes Tuesday at Inverness Club (par 72, 6,249 yards). The Orlando, Fla., native tied for 26^th place at 8-over, one shot outside the top 25. to lead the 12^th-place Bulls in their fall season opener.

Smith was one of four Bulls making their debuts with the program this week. The lineup also included freshman Ana Maria Barriga (Neiva, Colombia) and redshirt junior Jessica Whitting (Perth, Australia) while junior Ashley Zagers (Oldsmar, Fla.) competed as an individual.

 
USF Lineup Scores

12	South Florida	306	309	306	921
T26	Erika Smith (2)	74	79	71	224
T48	Sadie Dewinton-Davies (5)	76	75	78	229
T60	Ramya Meenakshisundaram (3)	79	77	78	234
T63	Jessica Whitting (1)	79	78	79	236
T72	Ana Maria Barriga (4)	77	81	82	240

 
Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan's thoughts on the fall season opener and what's ahead for the Bulls:
"Today, I thought we had more energy and enthusiasm. Erika had a great final round and she should feel encouraged to see herself shoot a red number on a difficult golf course. We know what we've got to work on for our next event and we're ready to dig in. Now that four out of six have their first event as a Bull under their belt, we know we can approach the next event more calm and confident."
 
Notables

• Freshman Erika Smith led the lineup with 38 pars in her first collegiate event. The Orlando, Fla., native finished with a par-5 scoring average of 4.89 (-1).
• Senior Sadie Dewinton-Davies tied for the second-best scoring average on par-3 holes (2.78, -2). Freshman Ana Maria Barriga and junior Ashley Zagers both posted even-par averages on par-3 holes.

 
Up Next
The Bulls are back in action at the Lady Paladin Intercollegiate that's set for Sept. 27-29 in Greenville, S.C.
 
About USF Women's Golf
Veteran head coach Erika Brennan completed her first full season with USF in 2018-19 and helped the Bulls become the second-fastest rising program in the country as they climbed 75 spots in the national Golfstat rankings. The Bulls opened the 2018 fall season with a runner-up finish at the USA Intercollegiate and also placed second at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational to wrap up their four-tournament run before the spring. In the spring opener, USF captured the program's first tournament team title since April 11, 2017 with a two-shot victory at the Florida Challenge. USF finished up the regular season with a 22-shot win at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate on April 2. Freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram became the first Bull to earn all-conference honors since 2016. 

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