April 21, 2008
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The West Florida women's golf team captured their third straight GSC title in convincing fashion. The five Argonaut golfers that teed off in the tournament, all finished in the top 10, as UWF ran away with the 2008 GSC championship on Monday in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Argos won by 26 strokes over second place Montevallo. Henderson State finished third, while Harding finished fourth of the nine schools at the tournament.
Natalia Espinosa (So / Bogota, Colombia) had the tournaments best round with a 74 on Sunday, and held on for the individual title by shooting a 78 on Monday. Espinosa carded a total score of 152, to win by two strokes ahead of Henderson State's Jenna Chadwick with a 154. UWF's Meaghan Gulliksen (Fr / Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Bhavna Shetty (Fr / Mysore, India) tied for third place with a total score of 156. Tara Steakin (Fr / Wellington, Fla.) finished tied for seventh with a 36 hole total of 161, while Rachel Christ (Sr / Charlotte, NC) turned in score of 163, to finished tied for ninth place.
The top six finishers earn All-Tournament accolades, and West Florida had half the All-Tournament team with Espinosa, Shetty, and Gulliksen. Joining Henderson State's Chadwick, was Morgan Bell and Emily Gibson of Montevallo,for the remaining spots. Bell finished fifth with a score of 157, while Gibson was 6th with a total of 159. The Argos were the pre-tournament favorite and are playing their best golf going into the post season.
Head Coach Robin Dezarn talked about the victory, "I am very proud of the team, they have worked hard to be in this position. We had a slow start today, but everyone played much better on the back nine. We were real focused today and worked hard down the stretch to seal the win. We are playing well now, so hopefully we are peaking as we go into the NCAA regionals."
The Argos had an 11 stroke lead going into the final round. At one point, near the end of the front nine, the lead has slipped to 9 strokes, but an impressive back nine in the final round, pushed the win to 26 strokes. The Argos will likely be one of the top seeded teams in the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament, which will take place either May 5th and 6th or May 6th and 7th. The tournament will likely take place at Missionary Hills, Florida, as the NCAA will make the final team selections later this week.
Natalia Espinosa owned the par five holes, as she was the only player to play the long holes under par. Espinosa was three under par for the par fives, and she also tied with HSU's Meredith Mosel for the most birdies with five. Meanwhile, the Freshman sensations, Bhavna Shetty and Meaghan Gulliksen were first and second of all golfers in pars recorded with 23 and 22 respectively. Not only did the Argos place all five golfers in the top 10, they had three freshman in the top 8, with Tara Steakin joining Shetty and Gulliksen.
