UTEP Women’s Golf Takes Third in Season Opener

Staff Report September 12, 2017 Comments Off on UTEP Women’s Golf Takes Third in Season Opener

The UTEP women’s golf team launched its 2017-18 season on a high note, finishing in third place at the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial on Tuesday in Springfield, Mo.

After struggling to an opening-round score of 310, the Miners shot 290 and 296 over the final 36 holes to wind up in third place (896 total), behind champion Memphis (293-287-294-874) and runner-up Murray State (297-298-293-888).

“Other than the first round, I thought we played well,” UTEP coach Jere Pelletier said. “We have two new girls [Valeria Mendizabal and Audrey Haddad] where this was their first collegiate tournament, and I thought they handled it pretty well. Our junior and senior played well, especially the last two days. If we would’ve played a little better in the first round, we would’ve had a chance to win it or at least finish second. We just got too far behind after the first round.”

Senior June Ting tied for eighth place, firing a 10-over-par 223 (78-72-73). Junior Lily Downs tied for 11th place, shooting 224 (77-73-74). The individual winner was Michaela Fletcher of Memphis (72-69-71-212).

UTEP’s Abbie Anghelescu (75-76-75-226) and Mendizabal (80-72-74-226) tied for 22nd place, and Audrey Haddad tied for 75th place (89-73-85-247).

The Miners will take a short break from competition before returning to the links for the Bob Hurley ORU Shootout Sept. 25-26 in Tulsa.