Sept. 8, 2003
Normal, Ill. - The University of Missouri women's golf squad had an outstanding final round at the ISU Redbird Fall Classic shooting a 296 for the round, taking the title over host school Illinois State. The win marks the Tigers first victory under third-year head coach Stephanie Cooper and the programs first win since the spring of 2000.
"Its very exciting to get our first win in our opening tournament of the year. We played some excellent golf today and I was happy to see our kids show some resiliency and fortitude," Cooper said. "Its always good to get off to a solid start and hopefully it will give us some confidence and momentum heading into the rest of the fall."
Mizzou made an amazing comeback today. After being down by seven strokes following the first two rounds which were played yesterday at the ISU Golf Course (Par 71, 5995 yards) in Normal, Ill, the Tigers initiated a 14-stroke swing to take the tournament by seven strokes (900 to 907).
Several Tigers made great showings to open the fall with three finishing in the top five. Sophomore Denise Knaebel equaled the best round of her career with an even-par 71 en route to a third place finish (72-77-71=220). Sophomore Stephanie Turner also had a career day registering her best finish of her career with a fourth place finish (76-64-73=223). Junior Maria Ohlsson finished the day in the top five with a three-day total of 226 putting her in a tie for fifth.
Freshman Lyndsey Adams, who competed as an individual, shot a final-round 80 and a 232 in her first tournament as a Tiger. Sophomore Kelli Strubinger had a solid final day, shooting a 75 (237 for the tourney) while junior Mindy Bullard wrapped up the scoring for Mizzou with an 82 (239 for the tourney).
The Tigers will next take to the course on September 26-28 at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Nashville, Tenn. For more information on Mizzou Women's Golf, log on to home of Missouri Athletics, www.mutigers.com.
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS Pl Player (School) 1st 2nd 3rd Tot 1 Laura Cross (SMU) 215 3 Denise Knaebel (MU) 72 77 71 220 4 Stephanie Turner (MU) 76 74 73 223 5 Maria Ohlsson (MU) 73 76 77 226 * Lyndsey Adams (MU) 75 77 80 232 Kelly Strubinger (MU) 81 81 75 237 Mindy Bullard (MU) 82 75 82 239 * Competing as an individual