VALDOSTA, Ga. – All season long, UWF women's golf head coach Kristen Dorsey preached to her team that every extra bag of balls or additional time on the putting green was to prepare the team for this week – the Gulf South Conference Championship. The No. 39 ranked Argonauts came in as the third seed and left with their league-record 12th team title.
UWF held a 9-shot lead entering Wednesday's final round and won with ease in the form of a 13-shot cushion. The Argos played the final six holes as consistently as at any point of the week, making two birdies, three bogeys and 25 pars. UWF's 166 combined pars were 15 more than the second best total.
The championship trophy will be added to the overflowing displays in the UWF Field House as the tally for conference hardware will move to 121 thanks to the women's golf title, which was won five minutes before the men's team claimed the 122nd on the other side of the Kinderlou Forest Golf Course clubhouse.
Two years ago, UWF staged a record comeback for the win when Lee led by nine shots on the final day. On an windless, 80-degree day in south Georgia, Dorsey's squad was not about to let history repeat itself. That doesn't mean things didn't get tense on the opening holes for the Argo faithful.
Lee closed to within five early as it seemed to take all five UWF players some time to get into a rhythm. Starting on the back nine, the Argos made eight birdies on holes 13-18 as they squashed any hope of a Flames comeback.
Alia Scotka made three in four holes on her way to a 2-under-par 70, finishing the tourney in second place at 3-ov-erpar 219. Millie Thompson threw a second even par round of the week to take third at 223.
Isabela Yu Lee (75-73-78=226) and Kate Kenthack (74-78-75=227) registered a fifth and sixth-place finish, respectively.
Lee's Supuschaya Srichantamit won the individual title with a 215 score.
The NCAA will announce the regional selections on Monday, April 29 on ncaa.com. The NCAA Super Regional Championship will be held May 6-8 at Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, Tennessee.
