New Smyrna Beach, Fla. - The Stetson women's golf team set the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship 18-hole scoring record with a two under par 286 in the final round at Venetian Bay Golf Club on Wednesday, rallying from fifth place and a 12-stroke deficit to claim its second consecutive A-Sun title and automatic bid to NCAA regionals. Freshman Alexandria Buelow (Palm City, Fla.) placed second at one under par overall to lead the Hatters (+20) while senior Lauren Darnell (Gainesville, Ga.) shot the low round of the day with a three under par 69.
The Hatters began the day in fifth place, 12 strokes behind leader ETSU, but mounted an amazing charge up the leaderboard by becoming the first team in A-Sun women's golf history to card an under-par score for 18 holes. Freshman Anna Hancock (Lakeland, Fla.) carded an even par 72 ahead of Darnell, who made four birdies and a bogey en route to her lowest career score.
Senior Danielle Jackson (Seminole, Fla.) then came in with a 75, sophomore Lauren Cate (St. Augustine, Fla.) followed with her second consecutive two over par 74 and Buelow put a bow on the record score with a one under par 71. Buelow shot 72-72-71 to become the first golfer in tournament history to shoot even par or better in every round. This is the second consecutive A-Sun title and second in program history for the Hatters, who won last season at their home course, Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand. The 2011 championship will return to Victoria Hills with Venetian Bay to host again in 2012.
"It's true that we were way behind coming into the day but like I always say, 'when you've got a strike left, you have a chance,'" head coach Floyd Kerr said. "We hoped for four rounds around 72 or maybe better and then we'd take our chances. The players bought into that and the result was a tournament record. I found out we were back in contention right around the turn and then the kids took it from there. I guess Lauren (Darnell) didn't want to finish her college career today and now she gets to play more golf. As we prepare for NCAA regionals, we're going to take a more serious approach than I think we did last season. This time our goal is the nationals."
Four different teams (ETSU, Kennesaw State, Campbell and Stetson) held the lead at one point or another during the final round, but soon after getting off the golf course with a 20 over par 884 team score, the Hatters went ahead for good. The Lady Bucs, Owls and Camels played in the final five groups of the day but could not come up with enough birdies to pass Stetson for a second time.
ETSU's Laura Jansone shot 71 on Wednesday to finish three under par for the tournament and claim her second individual conference championship in the last three years. Buelow was two strokes back in second place at -1 with FGCU's Briana Carlson (+2), Kennesaw State's Ket Premchuen (+3) and Campbell's Mary Mattson (+4) rounding out the top five. Cate and Darnell tied for 11th place at seven over par, Jackson tied for 15th at +10 and Hancock tied for 21st at 12 over par.
Kennesaw State placed second in the team competition at 24 over par, four strokes behind the Hatters. Campbell and ETSU tied for third at +25 with FGCU (+26), Jacksonville (+51), Mercer (+51), USC Upstate (+89), Belmont (+90) and Lipscomb (+168) rounding out the final standings.
The Hatters advance to one of three NCAA regionals, which will be held May 6-8. The East regional is at Ironwood Country Club in Greenville, N.C.; the Central regional is at Otter Creek Golf Course in Bloomington, Ind. and the West regional is at Stanford (Calif.) Golf Course. The finals are May 18-21 at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. The regional selections will be announced Monday, April 26.
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