University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
SEC Championships
Georgia Remains Fourth At SECs
April 16, 2016 | Women's Golf
Head Coach Josh Brewer, Jillian Hollis, and Harang Lee talk about how they battled throughout the round today and their hope for the final round tomorrow.
April 16, 2016
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama --- The No. 4-ranked Georgia women's golf team fired a second-straight 8-over 296 to remain in fourth place on the team leaderboard at the SEC Championships. The Bulldogs are 14 shots off the pace of co-leaders No. 1 Alabama and No. 7 Florida entering Sunday's final round at Greystone Golf and Country Club.
"We've done a great job all year of closing, and tomorrow we just have a bigger gap to close," head coach Josh Brewer said. "Yesterday, we had to fight to shoot 8-over and stay in the tournament. Today, we were close to putting up a number in the red. We just had a few loose swings at the wrong times. It tells us it's out there. Maybe all five are going to do it on the same day."
The Bulldogs started hot and were 3-under through the first seven holes before dropping four strokes at No. 8 and No. 9. Jillian Hollis, Harang Lee and Bailey Tardy helped thwart that slide as each played the back nine at 1-under.
Hollis and Lee led Georgia with a pair of even-par 72s. Rounding out the Bulldogs' counting tallies were Rinko Mitsunaga's 75 and Tardy's 77.
Lee and Hollis used steady golf en route to their 15th and 11th par-or-better efforts of the season, respectively.
Lee bogeyed No. 2 and No. 4 but gained one stroke back with a birdie at No. 6 and pulled back to even with another at No. 17.
"I didn't start great, but it was good to see that I could come back," she said. "Hopefully, tomorrow and I can start good and finish better. The ball just wouldn't go in the hole. It was frustrating, but it's OK. It's a learning process. It's good that I didn't play great, and I still shot even."
Hollis birdied No. 3 but bogeyed No. 6, No. 8 and No. 12 to fall to 2-over. Birdies at No. 13 and No. 18 brought her back to even.
"It was a steady day," Hollis said. "I made a good birdie at the par-5 (No. 3). I was unfortunate at the No. 6 with mud on my ball. The same happened yesterday. I had mud on the side. Yesterday, it went dead right and there was nothing I could do about it. Today, it started curving left from the beginning and dove into the hazard. The rest of they day was good. My putting was good today. I missed some shots, but I think my putting made up for that."
Florida's Maria Torres shot 4-under 68 and leads the individual field by six shots. For Georgia, Hollis is tied for sixth at 145, Harang Lee is tied for 11th at 146, Tardy is tied for 16th at 148, Mitsunaga is tied for 38th at 153 and Sammi Lee is tied for 58th at 159.
The Crimson Tide and Gators are knotted at 578, followed by No. 25 Texas A&M at 590, the Bulldogs at 592, No. 8 Arkansas at 594, Missouri at 598, No. 23 South Carolina at 599, Ole Miss at 601, Tennessee at 602 and Mississippi State and LSU both at 608.
The Bulldogs will be paired with Arkansas and Missouri for Sunday's final round, teeing off from 9:50-1:30 ET. Live scoring is available via golfstat.com.
Earlier this spring at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Georgia overcame a seven-shot deficit entering the final round that bulged to double digits midway through the day before rallying to victory.
"We've had that 'M.O.' this year," Brewer said. "We've closed double-digit leads on folks. We're not scared. We just know we've got to play the way we've played all year. We're aggressive. We're going to go in fire at some pins and trying to make birdies. Hopefully, we can post a number where people know they need to play the final three holes to finish. It's hard in golf. You saw at the Master's this year what can happen. We would just like to apply some pressure see if they crack."
2016 SEC Women's Golf Championships
Greystone Golf and Country Club Legacy Course
Birmingham, Ala.
Par 72; 6195 Yards
Saturday's Second-Round Standings
Team Leaderboard
Alabama 286-292=578
Florida 292-286=578
Texas A&M 299-291=590
Georgia 296-296=592
Arkansas 300-294=594
Missouri 295-303=598
South Carolina 298-301=599
Ole Miss 301-300=601
Tennessee 297-305=602
Mississippi State 305-303=608
LSU 305-303=608
Vanderbilt 309-304=613
Auburn 304-311=615
Kentucky 312-312=624
Individual Leaderboard
Maria Torres, Florida 69-68=137
Katelyn Dambaugh, S. Carolina 72-71=143
Cheyenne Knight, Alabama 72-71=143
Emma Talley, Alabama 70-73-143
Lakareber Abe, Alabama 70-74=144
Jillian Hollis 73-72=145
Maddie Szeryk, Texas A&M 75-70=145
Alison Horvatter, Ole Miss 74-71=145
Kelly Grassel, Florida 70-75=145
Amanda Kim, Missouri 70-75=145
Additional Georgia Scores
T11. Harang Lee, Georgia 74-72=146
T16. Bailey Tardy, Georgia 71-77=148
T38. Rinko Mitsunaga, Georgia 78-75=153
T58. Sammi Lee, Georgia 79-80=159
