Melanie Green tied her own program low 54-hole total of 205 (-11) enroute to her second win of the season and third as a Bull.
TAMPA, FLA., March 17, 2024 – The University of South Florida women’s golf team continued their assault on the record books, notching their third victory of the season at the Mountain View Collegiate on Sunday afternoon in Tucson, Az. Senior Melanie Green won for the second time in 2023-24 and third time in her illustrious career. South Florida, ranked No. 42 nationally, has finished in the top four, with three wins, in seven of eight events in the 2023-24 season.
The win is the sixth under Head Coach Erika Brennan, in her sixth full season. For the Bulls, it is the second time this season that the team won and a player captured the individual title. USF and Green also won at the FAU Paradise Invitational.
The victory in the Mountain View Collegiate marks the third team title for the Bulls in 2023-24, the most since winning four during the 2011-12, including the Big East Conference Championship.
Green, ranked 36th nationally, is the sixth player in program history with two or more wins in a season and the first since Natalia Villavicencio in 2018-19. Christina Miller in 2011-12 won three times, the program record.
The win is the second for Green in 2023-24. She has been named the AAC Women’s Golfer of the Week twice in the Spring and was the AAC Women’s Golfer of the Month in both September and October. Green posted her first solo victory at the FAU Paradise Invitational earlier this season. Her previous first-place finish was a shared title at the Trinity Forest Invitational in 2022. Green has shot par of better in 23 of 24 chances this season.
In Tucson, Green got off to a hot start, opening with a 67 (-5) on Friday in which she recorded seven birdies, offset by two bogies. She followed with an even par 72 on Saturday, which left her in a tie for third place heading into the final round. A closing 66 (-6) on Sunday, with eight birdies, sealed the three-stroke victory. Green led the field with 17 birdies, tied for the lead in scoring on the par 5’s at -6, and was second in the field in par 4 scoring at -5.
In the 54-hole event completed Sunday, the Bulls led from start to finish, among a field in which 13 of the 15 teams were ranked in the Top 85. The Bulls led after the first round, firing a 282 (-6). After a second round 289 (+1), the Bulls maintained a share of the lead heading into the final round. The Bulls closed it out with a 277 (-11) to pull away with a 4-stroke victory. The Bulls led the field in scoring on the par 5’s at -12 and with 50 birdies.
Junior Leonor Medeiros shot par or better in all three rounds and finished under par for the tournament. Medeiros, who tied for 17th place, opened with a pair of even par 72’s and closed with a 71 (-1). She has now posted seven rounds of par or better on the season.
Graduate student transfer Alyssa Montgomery carded her lowest round as a Bull, a 68 (-4) in the final round to help the Bulls close it out. Montgomery, who recorded her first top 10 finish at USF at the Dale McNamara Invitational, finished tied for 27th.
Senior Alizee Vidal was at par or better in two of the three rounds. She contributed two scoring rounds, opening with a 70 (-2), and closing with a 72 (E), with a 78 (+6) in the second round. Vidal finished tied for 38th. Vidal recorded one of the seven eagles during the tournament.
Freshman Emma Falcher contributed scoring rounds in the first and second rounds, shooting 73 (+1) and 70 (-2). Falcher closed with an 80 and finished tied for 49th.
Bulls Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
1 Melanie Green (Sr./Medina, N.Y) 67 72 66 -11 (205)
T17 Leonor Medeiros (So./Palmela, Portugal) 72 72 71 -1 (215)
T27 Alyssa Montgomery (Gr./Knoxville, Ten.) 75 75 68 +2 (218)
T38 Alizee Vidal (Sr./Le Gosier, France) 70 78 72 +4 (220)
T49 Emma Falcher (Fr./ Fousenant, France) 73 70 80 +7 (223)
Tournament Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
1 South Florida 282 289 277 -16 (848)
2 Texas A&M 289 282 281 -12 (852)
3 Houston 286 286 288 -4 (860)
T4 Arkansas 291 283 289 -1 (863)
T4 Iowa State 295 277 291 -1 (863)
6 Tennessee 291 290 285 +2 (866)
7 Kansas State 289 290 288 +3 (867)
8 Missouri 290 288 291 +5 (869)
9 TCU 296 292 283 +7 (871)
10 Oklahoma 298 283 295 +12 (876)
11 UNLV 292 291 294 +13 (877)
T12 Southern Mississippi 300 294 288 +18 (882)
T12 Minnesota 302 293 287 +18 (882)
14 Tulsa 303 295 294 +28 (892)
15 Arkansas State 303 298 302 +39 (903)
Quoting Head Coach Erika Brennan
“What a banner day for our program. These girls play for each other and they fought for every shot all week. Today, the putters caught fire and it was incredible to watch them feed off each other’s energy out there. It’s a special group and they continue to prove they can compete at the highest level.”
Up Next
The Bulls will return to the course April 7-9 in the Chattanooga Classic at Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. Prior to that, Green will compete at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on April 3-6 before joining her teammates in Chattanooga.
About USF Women’s Golf
The 2023-24 campaign will be the Bulls’ sixth full season under head coach Erika Brennan. South Florida is among the fastest-rising programs in the country, as they climbed 75 spots in the national Golfstat rankings following Brennan’s first season in 2018-19 and have captured five tournament titles under Brennan, while setting numerous program scoring records under her leadership. Senior standout Melanie Green has been an all-conference performer in each of her first three seasons, qualified for the 2022 NCAA Regional as an individual and was named a 2023 All-American Honorable Mention. Green and the Bulls reached the NCAA Regional as a team in 2023, marking the program’s first postseason appearance in 11 years.
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– #GoBulls –
