DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Karlee Vardas and
Haley Yerxa each finished in the top-20, and Georgia Southern women's golf placed fourth in the Sun Belt Championship at the LPGA International Hills Course Tuesday.
The Eagles finished two strokes ahead of Southern Miss and 12 behind Arkansas State. ULM tied for first with Texas State and won the team title in a playoff that lasted two holes. Old Dominion's Leah Onosato claimed the tournament's individual crown with a two-under-par 214 (68-73-73).
Vardas shot 72-77-74=223 to tie for 14th, and Yerxa carded a72-76-76=224 to tie for 16th. Both shot even-par 72s in Sunday's first round with Vardas rolling in three birdies and Yerxa sinking two.
Vardas led the Eagles with a 74 today after shooting 1-over on the back nine, while Yerxa eagled her last hole of the tournament, the 340-yard, par-4 18th.
The Eagles led the field in par-3 scoring and tied for third in total pars with 171.
Scores
Team – 292-302-306=900 (+36), 4
Karlee Vardas – 72-77-74=223 (+7), T14
Haley Yerxa – 72-76-76=224 (+8), T16
Regina Plascencia – 75-76-78=229 (+13), T28
Abby Newton – 73-78-79=230 (+14), T31
Alex Stevenson – SB-73-78 (+7)
Taylor Oberparleiter – 83-SB-SB (+11)
Quotable from head coach Mimi Burke
"The last two rounds of the Sun Belt Championship is not how we wanted to close out the season. That performance is not a representation of who we are as a team. We will be back hungry and stronger this fall. I'm very proud of the entire team and how they came together after dealing with so much adversity this year. We learned a lot of great lessons and are excited for the future."