ETSU women's golf picks up first win of the season

The victory marks the 10th tournament title for the women's golf team.

By: ETSU | TriCities.com
Published: October 28, 2009

For three tournaments in a row, the ETSU women’s golf team has been in position to win an event. This time the Buccaneers got it done.

Powered by a second place individual finish from senior Sinead O’Sullivan (Galway, Ireland) and an overall solid performance by the rest of the team, the Bucs took their second-round lead and cruised to a 16-stroke victory Tuesday during third and final round action in the 2009 Palmetto Intercollegiate at the Oak Point Golf Course.

“To win by 16 over a field that includes our conference rival Campbell, along with schools like Kansas, Georgia State and East Carolina is important for us,” said ETSU head coach Stefanie Shelton. “The girls wanted to win this event, and we wanted to beat the teams that are here. They really competed from start to finish.”

Shelton said the team was determined to finish the job this time.

“We’ve been leading the past three tournaments and I think our team wanted to prove they could win and they did that,” she said. “This shows what we are capable of and it makes you look forward to the spring season.”

While O’Sullivan finished at 217 (74-69-74) and four strokes back of individual champion Jessie Hollandsworth of Maryland, the Bucs placed all five players no lower than 26th on the individual leaderboard.

Seniors Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) and Kennie Leigh Eisenhower (Newport) finished tied for 13th and 26th, respectively. Meanwhile, the sophomore duo of Mayte Vizcarrondo (Cadiz, Spain) and Nina Muehl (Vienna, Austria) played well, with Vizcarrondo tying for 17th and Muehl tying for 22nd.

“I was happy with my overall performance, but I was even happier with my teammates for three great rounds,” O’Sullivan said. “I was playing pretty good this week so I was excited to get out there today, but it was windy and there weren’t many birdie opportunities. I decided to stay focused on being solid and try to help our team win.”

The victory marks the 10th tournament title in ETSU’s women’s golf history, with all those wins coming under Shelton.