Oct. 12, 2008
Complete Results in PDF Format
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Paced by a school-record 214 by freshman Marika Lendl (Bradenton, Fla.), the UCF women's golf team wrapped up its best weekend of the fall to date with a round of 300 to tie for ninth at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, hosted by Tennessee at the par-72 Fox Den Country Club in Knoxville. UCF shot a 300-293-200, its three best rounds of the year, to finish with a season-low 893 (+29) and tie with both Chattanooga and Kentucky for ninth place out of 18 participating schools. No. 18 LSU won the event by nine strokes with a sizzling 865 (+1).
The Knights finished ahead of No. 9 Denver and No. 24 Texas A&M. UCF also placed ahead of Conference USA rivals SMU and Tulane in the 54-hole event. UCF's 893 is an improvement of 19 strokes over the 912 that the Knights shot last year at the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Championships to finish 17th out of 17 teams.
Lendl led the Knights, firing a two-under-par 214 (68-70-76) for the tournament. Lendl's 214 eclipsed the previous 54-hole school record of 216 set by her teammate, Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.), March 14-16, 2008 in the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic. Friday's round of 68 by Lendl was the team's lowest round of the fall and just a single stroke off of the UCF record of 67 shot by Emma Soderlindh at the 1998 Hatter Spring Fling. Lendl paced the field of 96 golfers in Knoxville after each of the first two days but fell behind with her four-over-par 76 closing round on Sunday to finish sixth overall.
Connelly wrapped up her best showing this fall with a 219 (+3) which tied her for 15th overall. Connelly followed up her career-low 69 on Saturday with an even-par 72 on Sunday to top all Knights on the day.
Jessy Tang (Miami, Fla.) was third for UCF with a 227 (+11), May Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) finished with a 236 (+20) and Katie Detlefsen (Lontzen, Belgium) rounded out the UCF competitors with a 237 (+21).
UCF returns to action in two weeks when the team heads to Auburn, Ala. to participate in The Derby Invitational from October 24-26.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.