Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Wendy's Invitational
Bucknell Women's Golf Wins Wendy's Invitational, Minjoo Lee Claims Individual Title
10/19/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Oct. 19, 2010
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Featuring the top two individuals in the field in junior Minjoo Lee (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and freshman Kasha Scott (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Cherry Creek), the Bucknell women's golf team shot 298 Tuesday and ran away with an 11-stroke win at the Wendy's Invitational at Coosaw Creek Country Club. The Bison put a bow on the best fall season in the 13-year history of the program with their first ever team victory on a visiting course.
Bucknell opened with a 304 on Monday and entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over UAB and Appalachian State. The Bison then shot 298 on Tuesday while none of the other 12 teams in the field scored better than 307. The 602 total was 11 better than runner-up UAB. Appalachian State was third with a 620 total.
The Bison also defeated three other Big South teams, including 2010 champion and tournament host Charleston Southern. Radford of the Big South finished fourth at 628, Charleston Southern tied for fifth at 634 and Presbyterian was 12th at 667.
Bucknell's 602 composite set a school 36-hole record by five shots, and it gave them their second victory and fourth top-three finish of the fall.
Both of the previous team wins in school history came at the Bucknell Invitational, first in 2006 and again to start the 2010 fall campaign. Following that season-opening home win, the Bison finished 10th at tournaments hosted by Big Ten schools Wisconsin and Penn State, and in the last eight days alone they finished third at Akron's Zippy Invitational, second at the Rutgers Invitational, and now first at the Wendy's Invitational.
Tuesday's final-round 298 was the third sub-300 round of the season, something that had never been done until the Bison posted a 296 back on Sept. 12. In fact, the top eight single rounds in program history have all been turned in since the final round of the season-ending Big South Championship last spring. The record-setting run has been all the more impressive considering coach Kevin Jamieson's lineup has primarily consisted of a senior, a junior and three freshmen.
Lee entered the final round two shots off the individual lead after an opening 74, and then she posted a 1-over 72 on Tuesday to claim her first career title. Lee is Bucknell's fourth all-time winner and second of the season, joining junior Katie Jurenovich (Warren, Ohio/Howland), who won the Bucknell Invitational last month.
Jurenovich became Bucknell's third top-10 finisher after a final-round 75 gave her a total of 153. That was good for a tie for 10th place.
Scott backed up her opening-round 73 with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday. Her 147 total was one behind Lee and put her in a two-way tie for second, although the second-place medal went to Radford's Hannah Coles on a match of cards. Freshmen Bridget Wilcox (Bernardsville, N.J./Taft School) and Lauren Bernard (Malvern, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame) both finished with 77s. Wilcox shot 156 for the tournament and finished T-15th, while Bernard was T-17th at 157.
For the second straight fall season, Lee finished with a team-best 76.9 scoring average, the lowest in program history (her 2009 average of 76.90 was slightly lower than this year's 76.92). Jurenovich (78.0) and Scott (78.9) also had scoring averages in the 70s.
Bucknell's fall season is now complete, and the team will resume competition on Feb. 20-22, 2011 at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic.
