Women's Golf Captures Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic Title
Feb. 23, 2010
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Freshman Shelby Gilbert turned in a career-best two-under par 70 and the University of Miami women’s golf team shot a season-best 289 in the final round to claim its second straight Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic title at Oak Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C. Tuesday. Miami won last year’s 43-team Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic with a score of 904.
“I am so proud of this team,” UM head coach Lela Canon said. “They played great the last three days and finished really strong today. This is one of the largest tournaments in the country with so many good teams. To be able to win it a second straight year is a great accomplishment for this program.”
The Hurricanes saved their best for last recording the best round by a team in the 33-team tournament when they shot 289 Tuesday. After finishing Monday tied for seventh, Miami edged Minnesota (893) by a stroke finishing with a 28-over par 892 rallying from 12 strokes down to win the team title.
Augusta State (895) finished third followed by Oral Roberts (897) and East Carolina (897) who both tied for fourth.
Miami placed all five golfers in the top 50 out of 172 golfers, and three Hurricanes finished in the Top 25 led by Gilbert who finished tied for ninth. Gilbert enjoyed her best performance as a Hurricane as she made par on 16 of the 18 holes and recorded birdies on the other two. She shot two-under par 34 on the front nine and even par 36 on the back nine. Her birdies came on back-to-back holes 2 and 3.
Sophomore Begona Sarabia returned to her first-day form shooting even-par 72 to tie for 13th. She opened her day on hole 5 and recorded two birdies in her first seven holes. She ended up finishing with three birdies on the day while shooting two-over par 38 on the back nine and two-under par 34 on the front side.
Junior Maria Ronderos posted Miami’s third best score of the day as she shot one-over par 73. She picked up one birdie and made par on 15 of the 18 holes while shooting even-par 36 on the front side and one-over par 37 on the back nine. Ronderos tied for 47th.
Sophomore Jennifer Hirano tied for 25th after firing a two-over par 74 in her final round. She too added a birdie and shot even par on the front nine before shooting two-over 38 on the back nine.
Junior Christina Hirano capped off the tournament shooting four-over par 76, which tied her for 41st. She had a one-over par 37 on the front nine and was three-over par 39 on the back nine.
The Hurricanes hit the road again Mar. 1-2 when they travel to the UCF Challenge in Sorrento, Fla.
Finale Team Results
1 Miami 296-307-289=892 +28
2 Minnesota 303-298-292=893 +29
3 Augusta State 284-307-304=895 +31
T4 Oral Roberts 298-305-294=897 +33
T4 East Carolina 290-305-302=897 +33
T6 East Tennessee St. 296-299-303=898 +34
T6 Middle Tennessee St. 303-299-296=898 +34
T6 Campbell 297-308-293=898 +34
9 College of Charleston 307-306-289=902 +38
10 FIU 305-307-291=903 +39
11 Western Carolina 293-309-310=912 +48
T12 Kansas 303-314-298=915 +51
T12 Central Arkansas 307-308-300=915 +51
14 Illinois State 300-307-309=916 +52
15 Missouri State 305-320-298=923 +59
16 Oregon State 303-316-305=924 +60
17 Elon 304-318-303=925 +61
18 Akron 322-312-299=933 +69
19 William & Mary 308-316-311=935 +71
20 Mercer 317-315-306=938 +74
21 Morehead State 330-306-310=946 +82
22 Jacksonville St. 323-310-315=948 +84
23 Toledo 325-315-310=950 +86
24 Charleston Southern 316-325-314=955 +91
25 Drake 323-321-314=958 +94
26 Richmond 326-317-317=960 +96
27 Wichita State 323-321-318=962 +98
28 Southern Illinois 331-323-323=977 +113
29 Winthrop 327-327-333=987 +123
30 Old Dominion 337-321-338=996 +132
31 Bucknell 326-331-349=1006 +142
32 The Citadel 344-360-353=1057 +193
33 USC Upstate 365-360-353=1078 +214
Miami Individuals
T9 Shelby Gilbert 72-78-70=220 (+4)
T13 Begona Sarabia 72-78-72=222 (+6)
T25 Jennifer Hirano 77-75-74=226 (+10)
T41 Christina Hirano 77-76-76=229 (+13)
T47 Maria Ronderos 75-82-73=230 (+14)
