USF women’s golf captured its second team tournament title of the spring with a 22-shot victory at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate on Tuesday.
Senior Natalia Villavicencio collected her second individual tournament title of the season with a one-shot victory Tuesday in the Bulls’ regular season finale.T
STOCKBRIDGE, Ga., APRIL 2, 2019 – USF women’s golf ran away from the field in its second tournament victory of the spring while Natalia Villavicencio captured her second individual title of the season Tuesday at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate.
USF wrapped up the regular season with a 22-shot win at Eagle’s Landing Country Club (par 72, 6,043 yards) after opening the spring with a title victory at the Florida Challenge. The Bulls started Tuesday’s final round in a tie for the lead and distanced themselves from the rest of the 16-team field by posting the low team score for the second straight round.
Villavicencio carded her second consecutive even-par 72 in the final round and registered a one-shot victory with a final score of 2-over 218. The senior from Santiago, Chile tied for the tournament lead with 12 total birdies and hoisted her second trophy of the season after finishing the fall with a one-shot victory at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.
Jacqueline Twitty placed third in the 90-player field with a 4-over 220 and carded USF’s low score of the tournament Tuesday. The senior from Chapin, S.C., eagled the par-5, 464-yard sixth hole and collected three birdies on the way to finishing strong with a 2-under 70.
Sadie Dewinton-Davies earned her first top-10 finish as a Bull by tying for seventh place at 9-over (225). The junior from Newtown, Wales followed up her second-round 73 with a 74 and carded half of her eight total tournament birdies in the final round.
Freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram (Jacksonville, Fla.) tied for 14th place at 11-over in her team-leading seventh top-25 finish of the season.
USF Score
| Pos. | Team/Player (seed) | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total |
| 1 | South Florida | 303 | 293 | 294 | 890 |
| 1 | Natalia Villavicencio (1) | 74 | 72 | 72 | 218 |
| 3 | Jacqueline Twitty (3) | 77 | 73 | 70 | 220 |
| T7 | Sadie Dewinton-Davies (4) | 78 | 73 | 74 | 225 |
| T14 | R Meenakshisundaram (2) | 74 | 75 | 78 | 227 |
| T32 | Sophie Stone (5) | 78 | 77 | 80 | 235 |
Quotable
Head coach Erika Brennan on the Bulls wrapping up the regular season with two title victories:
“This team is special. It was a tremendous effort from top to bottom with the adversity they faced this week. To come out on top speaks to the buy-in and grit of these amazing girls and I could not be more proud. It’s hard to win a college golf tournament, and this one will go down as one I will remember forever. Natalia and Jackie battled, unknowingly, all day long and to have two players in the hunt like that is a lot of fun down the stretch. It’s a big boost of energy as we set our sights on the postseason and this momentum couldn’t have come at a better time. Congrats to Nati on earning medalist honors and a massive thank you to Coach Stevens, who always sets our team up for success and works relentlessly for the betterment of our program. I also want to thank Dr. Lee, who traveled with us this week and was a rock for each of us behind the scenes. The role he plays in regards to sports performance cannot be overstated. It was a fun day out there. This group is special.”
Assistant coach Dalton Stevens on USF’s ability to fight through adversity and rally to victory:
“We are proud of what this team has accomplished this week. We battled a lot of adversity after battling illness the week prior to this event. We had two great rounds after struggling in the first round. Great battle by our team to come from behind and win by a good margin. We got great rounds today in the final round by Natalia, Jackie and Sadie. Jackie posted a phenomenal round of golf today. It’s always a great tournament when the team wins and you have the individual medalist. This week was a total team effort and gives us great momentum as we prepare for the conference in two weeks.”
Notables
- USF captured its second team tournament title of the season after posting a two-shot victory at the spring season-opening Florida Challenge on Jan. 28.
- USF has won multiple tournament titles in a season for the first time since 2011-12.
- Individual medalist Natalia Villavicencio now has two tournament title victories this season after posting a one-shot win at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational in the fall season finale on Oct. 23.
- USF led the 16-team field in par-3 scoring (3.18), par-4 scoring (4.25) and par-5 scoring (4.95, -3). The Bulls also finished second with 160 pars and 35 pars.
- Villavicencio tied for the tournament lead with 12 total birdies.
- Jacqueline Twitty finished second in the field with 37 total pars and eagled the par-5, 464-yard sixth hole in the final round.
Up Next
USF will compete in the American Athletic Conference Championship April 14-16 at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla.
About USF Women’s Golf
Nine-year veteran head coach Erika Brennan completed her first spring season with USF in 2018. Juniors Natalia Villavicencio and Maria “Nani” Merchan highlighted the 2017-18 season, combining to post four top-10 performances and 11 top-25 finishes, including eight in the spring. The 2018-19 roster includes three newcomers: transfers Jacqueline Twitty and Sadie Dewinton-Davies along with freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram. The Bulls opened the 2018 fall season with a runner-up finish at the USA Intercollegiate and also placed second at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational to wrap up their four-tournament run before the spring. In the spring opener, USF captured the program’s first tournament team title since April 11, 2017 with a two-shot victory at the Florida Challenge.
