Miami Finishes Runner-Up at Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Miami golf team placed second with a score of 857 (+5) at the two-day Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships on the par-71, 5,946-yard Cherokee Country Club on Monday and Tuesday.

The Hurricanes finished just three strokes behind BYU (854) and seven strokes ahead of UTSA, Chattanooga, and Augusta who all tied for third with a 54-hole score of 864 (+12).

Miami finished ahead of three top-25 teams according to Golfstat, No. 22 Maryland by 12 strokes, No. 19 Virginia Tech by 14 strokes, and 21 strokes better than No. 21 Kent State.

“The girls hung in there all 54 holes, I’m very proud of them,” said head coach Patti Rizzo. “We made a few small mistakes in the end and gave it away, but we will learn from this and get tougher and stronger. We know where our mistakes were and will fix them for next time.”

As a team, the Canes finished second in the 17-team field in both par-four scoring (4.13; +14) and total birdies (44).

Anna Backman tallied a first-round score of 69 (-2) and a 1-under third round to finish the tournament at 1-under par with a score of 212, tying for fourth in the tournament.  She finished second for individual par-three scoring with a score of 2.89 (-2) and posted 11 birdies in the two days.

The strong play for UM continued with a second top-10 Cane finish from Kristyna Frydlova who tied for ninth. Frydlova finished 1-over par (214) after firing scores of 69 (-2), 73 (+2), and 72 (+1).

Daniella Barrett carded a 216 (+3) 54-hole score in the tournament. She fired a third-round score of five-under (66) to close out the tournament by shooting up 40 spots on the individual leaderboard and earn a top-20 finish, tied for 16th.

Sara Byrne and Franziska Sliper both finished tied 51st with a score of 223 (+10).

Following about two and a half weeks off, Miami returns to action on Oct. 17 and 18 at the Jim West Challenge in San Marcos, Texas.