Greensboro, N.C. - Sophomore Alexandria Buelow (Palm City, Fla.) earned her third career tournament victory on Tuesday with a three under par finish in the 36-hole, rain-shortened UNC Greensboro Starmount Classic at Bryan Park's Players Course. The Stetson women's golf team improved on its first round performance by one stroke yet finished 43 over par and in ninth place out of 15 teams.
After Monday's scheduled second round was rained out, the tournament was reduced to 36 holes with Tuesday's final round. Buelow, who had shot two under par 70 on Sunday to open the competition with a one-stroke lead, concluded with a 71, one of only three golfers on the day to break par. She and N.C. State's Brittany Marchand ended up tied for first place at three under par; no playoff was contested. Western Carolina's Josefine Sundh and Furman's Stefanie Kenoyer finished one stroke back in a tie for third place.
Buelow's victory comes in the team's first outing of the 2010-11 season and joins the 2009 Hatter Fall Classic and 2010 Cincinnati Spring Invitational in her personal trophy case.
Freshman Sammi Smith (Louisville, Ky.) finished with a flourish for the Hatters, shooting two over par 74 and bettering her first round score by seven strokes. She and junior Lauren Cate (St. Augustine, Fla.) tied for 33rd place at +11; Cate had a 77 on Tuesday. Freshman Jenna Hoecker (Rochester, N.Y.) and senior Alex Banham (Peterborough, England) struggled to an 87 and a 90, respectively, in the final round.
East Carolina and N.C. State tied for first place in the team standings at 19 over par with ECU winning the tiebreaker via matching scorecards. Maryland and Western Carolina tied for third eight strokes behind the Pirates and Wolfpack with Penn State (+28), Furman (+34), Mississippi State (+38) and ETSU (+41) also finishing ahead of the Hatters. UNC Wilmington (+48), Gardner-Webb (+49), Miami [Fla.] (+50), Winthrop (+55), host UNC Greensboro (+56) and High Point (+87) completed the 15-team field.
The Hatters return to competition this Sunday-Monday as they head to Bradenton, Fla. for the USF Waterlefe Invitational.
