Behind a pair of top 10 finishers in freshmen Carolin Pinegger (Marquartstein, Germany) and Valentina Fontaine (Santiago, Chile), the UCF women’s golf team recorded its first tournament championship since 2002 on Tuesday when it won the Hurricane Invitational.
UCF’s 54-hole tally of 894 was one stroke better than Georgia State’s 895 and two better than East Tennessee State’s 896. The three-day event was hosted by the University of Miami and contested at the par-72, 6,199-yard Don Shula’s Golf Resort in Miami Lakes.
UCF’s score of 894 marks the second-best tournament score in UCF history, behind just the 889 that the Knights shot in the fall of 2006 at the Lady Pirate invitational in Greenville, N.C.
“I am so proud of this team,” first-year UCF head coach Courtney Trimble said. “We battled all day after a tough start – Valentina was plus-six through nine and Elisa (Aoki) was plus-four through 11 – but they kept battling back. They did exactly what they were supposed to do to give the team a chance to win. It took a total team effort but they did everything that we asked of them as coaches and I couldn’t be happier.
“I was disappointed after the first day when we were 15 strokes back but we knew that if we played the way that we are capable of playing that we would be able to move back up to the top and we did just that. I am very proud of them and excited to see them earn this win as a team.”
Pinegger shot a 69 today, the lowest round of her young career by three strokes, to pull her into a tie for seventh place overall in the 90-member field. Capped by a birdie on 18, it is her first career top 10 finish with a 223 (+7). Pinegger improved each round of the event, going from an 80 to a 74 to a 69. Her 69 was two strokes better than any other golfer in the field on Tuesday and tied for the lowest score of any golfer in any round of the Hurricane Invitational.
Fontaine matched Pinegger with a 223 (+7) over three days for her third top 10 finish in five collegiate events. Highlighted by an even-par 72 on Monday, Fontaine has shot par or better in five of her 12 collegiate rounds.
Junior Katie Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn.) recorded her second top 20 finish of the year as she tied for 20th place overall with a 228 (+12). Senior Victoria Tomko (Lontzen, Belgium) tied for 34th place with a 230 (+14). Sophomore Elisa Aoki (Bradenton, Fla.) shot an even-par 72 on Tuesday to help pace the Knights to victory. It is her second par or better round of the year and helped her move into a tie for 41st overall with a 232 (+16). Competing as an individual, freshman Sammy Vass (Tain, Scotland) tied for 67 place with a 241 (+25).