March 2, 2010
SORRENTO, Fla. - Texas A&M senior Julia Boland won the individual title and the No. 16-ranked Aggies captured the team championship Tuesday at the UCF Challenge at RedTail Golf Club.
Boland was the only player in the field to break par in the final round, closing with a two-under 70. Her 54-hole total of six-under 210 was five shots better than teammate Sarah Zwartsynki, who was runner-up at 70-71-74=215. Boland's opening round of 65 on Monday tied the school record.
A&M trailed leader Georgia State by seven strokes going into the final round, but finished with a seven-over 295, the best score of the day by nine strokes. The Aggies' shot 29-over for the tournament to edge GSU (+31) by two.
"I can't be more proud of these girls," A&M Coach Trelle McCombs said. "They were very tough in some really difficult conditions. The wind gusted up to 30 miles per hour at times. We still have a little work to do before our next tournament but we'll be ready."
The title was the third in seven events this season for A&M, matching the 2006-07 team for the second most victories in a season. The 1976-77 team won a school-record four tournaments.
The victory was also the third individual title this year for Boland, which ties the school record set by Ashley Knoll in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
A&M freshman Ashley Freeman tied for 61st (80-78-81=239) and freshman Sarah Beth Davis placed 90th (78-W-75=153). Junior Alex Porter, playing as an individual, tied for 87th (84-86-86=256).
Coastal Carolina finished third at 40-over, followed by College of Charleston (+41), Baylor (+43), UCF (+49), Furman (+49), SMU (+52), Oklahoma (+54), UNC Greensboro (+55), Indiana (+60), South Florida (+63), East Carolina (+64), UTSA (+66), Augusta State (+74), Miami (+80) and Nebraska (+81).
The Aggies are back in action at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational March 26-28 in Austin.