HobbsDailyReport.com
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore Abbey Hartsell finished second individually and led the Lenoir-Rhyne University women’s golf team to the 2017 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) tournament championship on Tuesday.
The Bears, winning their first league title in 13 seasons, closed at 44-over par 908 at the Link Hills Country Club to edge host Tusculum by three shots on a par-72, 5,910-yard course.
LRU had last won a women’s golf title in 2004.
The Bears were in sixth place after the opening round of the tournament.
Hartsell, the league’s golfer of the year and a former Alexander Central High star, shot a 1-under 215 while the Bears’ Ainee O’Connor – a freshman from Kent, United Kingdom – was third individually with a 10-over 226. Both players earned first-team all-tournament spots.
Elizabeth England of Carson-Newman won the individual title with a 2-over 214.
The Bears now wait to see if they qualify for the NCAA Division II South Super Regional Tournament scheduled May 1-3 at The Members Club at Woodcreek in Columbia, S.C.
Final results
1. LENOIR-RHYNE 908 (+44)
2. Tusculum 911 (+47)
3. Lincoln Memorial 918 (+54)
4. Wingate 924 (+60)
5. Anderson 927 (+63)
6. Coker 928 (+64)
7. Carson-Newman 929 (+65)
8. Queens 932 (+68)
9. Catawba 959 (+95)
10. Newberry 967 (+103)
11. Mars Hill 1,164 (+300)
LRU RESULTS
2. Abbey Hartsell 215 (-1)
3t. Ainee O’Connor 226 (+10)
8t. Chelsea Mansel 228 (+12)
38t. Laura Morrison 239 (+23)
46t. Natalie Kratts 248 (+32)
ALL-TOURNAMENT
FIRST TEAM
Elizabeth England, Carson-Newman
Abbey Hartsell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ciara Rattana, Tusculum
Ainee O’Connor, Lenoir-Rhyne
Reagan Greene, Lincoln Memorial
Lisa Malherbe, Lincoln Memorial
Kate Hill, Anderson
SECOND TEAM
Katie Tomassoni, Tusculum
Diana McDonald, Wingate
Bella Harris, Coker
Chelsea Mansel, Lenoir-Rhyne