Kent State University
Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate
No. 6 Women's Golf Second at Mercedes Benz Championship
9/19/2017 4:58:00 PM | Women's Golf
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 6 Kent State University women's golf team finished second by a stroke at the Mercedes Benz Collegiate Championship Tuesday.
The Golden Flashes finished the tournament at 11-under par 841 (278-282-281). The team's score defeated Kent State's previous tournament record over 54 holes by six strokes. The Flashes were neck-and-neck with Illinois throughout the final round before the Illini came out ahead with a new tournament record score.
"Overall, we were happy with the way they played and competed for 54 holes," said head coach Greg Robertson. "Illinois is a good team and did what they needed to in the end to get the win. It's always tough to come up a shot short of winning, but we can learn a lot from a tournament like this and hopefully use it to our favor moving forward. We're looking forward to getting back down to Austin in a couple of weeks."
Michaela Finn and Karoline Stormo each finished the tournament strong and moved up to a tie for seventh place. The two returners finished at 3-under par 210 over 54 holes, six strokes off the lead. Stormo had the best score of the third round at 3-under par 68, while Finn carded a 69 Tuesday. The duo combined for nine birdies over the last 18 holes.
The Flashes had two additional student-athletes finish in the top-20, including freshman Kory Nielsen in a tie for 12th. In her second collegiate tournament, Nielsen finished at 2-under par 211 with a third round score of 71. Pimnipa Panthong finished at even par 213, tying for 16th. The All-American finished with a round of 76, after shooting a 66 and 71 in previous rounds.
Marissa Kirkwood finished tied for 56th at 12-over par 225. She had her strongest round of the tournament Tuesday at 2-over par 73. One stroke back was Kelly Nielsen, competing as an individual in a tie for 62nd. She scored a 77 in round three.
Kent State will move on to the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas Oct. 9-10. The Flashes are the defending champions at the Texas hosted tournament.
Players Mentioned
