Georgia State women's golf team finished 15th among the 17 teams in the season-opening Cardinal Cup in Louisville, Ky. The host Louisville Cardinals rallied on the final day to edge Memphis for first place.
Georgia State carded team rounds of 328-312-318 for a two-day total of 958, topping Richmond and Tennessee Tech. Georgia State's top individual scorer actually didn't count on the team score as junior Julie Lied had been taken to compete only as an individual and not one of the five team scorers. Her rounds of 76-76-77 tied her for 26th overall.
Freshman Emily Royer (Maidstone, England) topped the Panthers with 80-71-80 to finish tied for 35th among the 101 golfers entered. Her 1-under 71 was GSU's best round of the tournament. Senior Lauren Court (Lawrenceville, Ga.) rebounded with a 77 final round to finish tied for 67th at 241. GSU's team score could have actually been 27 strokes better if Lied's scores were counted and not the fifth-place entrant, leaving Panther coach Cathy Mant feeling a little better with the results.
“I am disappointed in the final finish, but with the two freshmen and two sophomores we knew there would be an adjustment period this fall,” the 15-year GSU coach said. “I saw some rays of improvement and know many of the reasons for some of the higher scores we shot are correctible. Lied had not had a good start in practices, so seeing her step up in this tournament makes me feel better about where her game is headed and she can become one of our leaders. Having a freshman shoot our best round also gives us reason to believe she can be a real factor for us. And, when Lauren (Court) gets her game back like it was as an all-conference golfer last year, we'll have another leader to count on.”
Sophomores Solene Le Coz (Le Raincy, France) and Jooeun Bae (Seoul, Korea) finished tied for 75th with scores of 243. Bae had a second-day score of 77 and Le Coz posted a final round 78. “These two have little tournament experience, but we feel good about their upside and think as they continue to mature, scores in the 70s will be their normal every round,” Mant added. Freshman Paula Zabarte (Madrid, Spain) had a 254 total to finish 93rd in her first American golf tournament and collegiate golf experience.
Now that the first competition and nerves are over, Mant expects the team to show improvement as the Panthers head right back on the course in this weekend's tournament that starts Sunday at Furman.
