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.
