Women's Golf | 4/16/2023 4:44:00 PM
SOUTHPORT, NC – The North Carolina A&T finished its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Golf Championships by finishing in ninth place with a three-round total of 119-983. The Aggies finished 30 shots behind College of Charleston, who clinched their second straight CAA title by shooting a 16-over 880 at the par-72, 6,013-yard The Reserve Club at St. James.
The A&T women's golf program spent the first five years of its existence without playing in a conference championship because A&T's former conference, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), did not sponsor enough programs to host a conference tournament.
Therefore, last season, when the Aggies competed in the Big South Conference Women's Golf Championships, marked the program's first chance to win a conference championship. They finished eighth.
On Sunday, the Aggies wrapped up play by shooting a third-round 35-over 323, their tournament's best round. They shot 332 on Friday and 328 on Saturday to finish 30 strokes off the lead behind the two-time champion Cougars. Charleston had no true challenger to the throne after UNC Wilmington faltered on Sunday by shooting 14-over to fall from second place after Saturday to a fourth-place finish for the tournament at 37-over 901.
The Delaware Blue Hens moved up one spot to finish second with a 33-over 897 after shooting a tournament-best 8-over 296 during the third round on Sunday. Elon scored the lowest on Sunday, shooting a 4-over 292 to place third for the tournament at 35-over 899. Towson rounded out the top 5 with a 922.
After shooting an 83 on Friday, A&T's Kennedi Lee recovered to shoot a team-low 77 on Saturday and a team-low 74 on Sunday to finish the tournament with an 18-over 234. She went from 33rd place on Friday to finishing the tournament in 23rd.
Charleston's Emma Schimpf ended the tournament as the CAA's 2023 medalist after shooting a three-round 3-under 213 after closing the event strong with a 2-under 70 third round. Charleston's Viktoria Hund, the 2022 CAA medalist, finished in a three-way tie for second with Delaware's Anna Kittelson and UNCW's Phu Khine at 2-over 218. Elon's Annabelle Ackroyd finished fifth at 7-over 223.
Lee opened her Sunday with a bogey on the par-4 10th but then reversed her fortunes with birdies on the 353-yard par-4 11th and the 510-yard par-5 12th. A bogey on the par-4 14th moved her back to even on the day, and she carded pars on the final four holes on the back nine to make the turn at even par.
But she started her front nine with a birdie on the par-4, 363-yard first but stayed above par for the remainder of the round after a double bogey on the par-5 fourth. Two more bogeys moved her to plus-3 before she birdied the par-5, 481-yard seventh. Two additional pars ended her day at 2-over.
Jayla Rogers shot 82 on Sunday to finish the tournament at 24-over 240. Rogers finished in a tie for 29th with William & Mary's Sarah Houle. Rogers had one birdie on Sunday, a three on the par-4, 252-yard ninth.
Vileska Gelpi and Victoria Stutts also played three rounds for the Aggies. Gelpi finished 36th with a 254, and Stutts finished in a three-way tie for 37th with a 255.
