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Women's Golf takes team championship at Coastal Georgia Invite
By Matt Green
ST. SIMONS ISLE, Ga. -- Lisa Persson and Pauline Schopp fired identical two-round totals of 18-over 162 to finish in a tie for third place overall and lead Shorter's No. 10-ranked women's golf squad to the team championship at the Coastal Georgia Women's Invitational hosted by the King & Prince Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Shorter turned in a two-day team total of 343-323-666 to finish five strokes better than team runner-up and tournament host Coastal Georgia (339-332-671). The University of Monticello (674), SCAD-Savannah (684) and North Georgia (699) rounded out the top five.
Persson, the reigning Southern States Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and a 2011 NAIA All-American, shot 82-80 while Schopp, a freshman, followed up her opening round 84 with a 6-over 78 on Tuesday. Both players finished six shots back of tournament medalist Nikki Stewart of SCAD-Savannah, who posted a 79-77-156 to win by two shots over Coastal Georgia's Christian Liggin.
The Lady Hawks, who spent the last couple weeks of the 2011 season as the nation's No. 1-ranked team before turning in a third place finish at the 2011 NAIA Women's Golf National Championships, looked every bit a team that is ready to challenge once again for the national crown.
Shorter placed five of its competitors in the top 13 of the 49-athlete event. Freshman Isabella Baldacci (83-82-165) finished tied for ninth in her first official collegiate event and sophomores Gabriela Murcia (84-82-166) and Caitlyn Cook (89-78-167) finished 11th and 13th, respectively, for the Lady Hawks.
Maria Bengtsson and Petra Muller also competed for Shorter at St. Simons Island. Bengtsson, who posted a top 20 finish at the national championships last season, placed 23rd with a two-day total of 94-83-177 and Muller, Shorter's lone senior, finished 38th (93-93-186).
The Lady Hawks return to the links on Feb. 27 and 28 when they travel to Columbus for the Columbus State Invitational hosted by the Country Club of Columbus.
