USF women’s golf returns to action after posting a wire-to-wire win in its spring opener on Feb. 18.
The Bulls will face a tough field at FSU’s home event that takes place Saturday and Sunday in Panama City.
EVENT: Florida State Match-Up
DATES: Saturday, Feb. 29 – Sunday, March 1
LOCATION: Bay Point Golf Club, Panama City, Fla.
COURSE INFO: Nicklaus Course – par 72, 6,290 yards
TAMPA, FEB. 28, 2020 – Fresh off a wire-to-wire win, USF women’s golf is getting ready to take on a tough field while teaming up with a fellow conference member at the Florida State Match-Up.
USF’s second event of the spring begins Saturday with 36 holes at Bay Point Golf Club’s Nicklaus Course (par 72, 6,290 yards) in Panama City. Action wraps up with 18 more holes Sunday at the seventh annual event that features three top-25 teams and four programs ranked in the top 40 nationally.
In addition to 10 schools playing for team and individual championships, five pairs of programs get to compete with each other for the match-up title.
USF and Memphis are representing the American Athletic Conference together. Host and 24th-ranked Florida State is matched up with No. 12 Alabama. Recent College Football Playoff National Championship Game foes on the gridiron, No. 13 LSU and No. 40 Clemson will join forces on the course. Kansas State-Toledo and Missouri-Coastal Carolina are the other two pairings.
USF looks to build more momentum after starting the spring with a 20-shot win at the Old Friends Invitational the Bulls hosted Feb. 17-18 at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club. Freshman Erika Smith captured her first individual collegiate title with a nine-shot victory close to campus.
Florida State Match-Up Field
USF, host and No. 24 Florida State, No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 LSU, No. 40 Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Kansas State, Memphis, Missouri and Toledo.
The Lineup
- Erika Smith – The freshman from Orlando was named AAC Women’s Golfer of the Week on Feb. 19, one day after winning the Old Friends Invitational with a 4-under 212. Smith currently leads the Bulls with a 72.6 season scoring average, seven rounds of par or better, two top-10 finishes and three top-25 performances. Learn more about Smith and her path to USF while watching Spectrum Sports reporter Kenny Morales’ recent feature HERE.
- Ramya Meenakshisundaram – The sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., earned a share of runner-up honors at the Old Friends Invitational, which marked her fifth career top-10 finish as a Bull.
- Sadie Dewinton-Davies – The senior from Newtown, Wales secured her first top-10 finish of the season and second of her USF career by placing ninth in the Bulls’ spring opener.
- Jessica Whitting – The redshirt junior from Perth, Australia and first-year Bull has been in the lineup all season. Whitting tied for 11th place at the Old Friends Invitational.
- Ashley Zagers – The junior from Oldsmar, Fla., is in the lineup for the fifth straight event and tied for 13th at the Old Friends Invitational.
Individual: Ana Maria Barriga – The freshman from Neiva, Colombia is set to make her spring debut. Barriga played in one event this past fall after shining in national/international tournaments during her junior career.
Quotable
Assistant coach Dalton Stevens’ thoughts heading into FSU’s home event:
“We are looking forward to getting back out on the road to continue our spring season after our home tournament win here in Tampa. The win has really got us off to a great start as we get ramped up for the bulk of our spring season here in the month of March. We are really excited about the opportunity to compete with some of the best teams in the country this week and the challenge ahead.”
Notables
- USF has captured three team titles since the start of last spring.
- The Bulls are beginning a stretch of three tournaments on three straight weekends that continues March 7-8 at the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. USF will compete in the Augusta Valspar Invitational March 14-15.
About USF Women’s Golf
Veteran head coach Erika Brennan completed her first full season with USF in 2018-19 and helped the Bulls become the second-fastest rising program in the country as they climbed 75 spots in the national Golfstat rankings. 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. USF finished up the regular season with a 22-shot win at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate on April 2. Freshman Ramya Meenakshisundaram became the first Bull to earn all-conference honors since 2016.
Stay up to date on the latest USF women’s golf news by following the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
Tom Zebold
