In an event as rare as a hole-in-one on 17 at The Player’s Championship, the Mississippi State women’s golf team got the oppurtunity to host the SEC conference championship for the first time since 1994. The Lady Bulldogs welcomed its other 11 conference members to Old Waverly Golf Course in West Point this weekend with plans of improving its play, as well as gaining experience heading into the next season.
“I would say as a team, our hitting has gotten better,” Mississippi State head coach Christi Sanders said. “I’ve got a real young and talented team, and we’ve made a lot of progress through the last couple of months. I look forward to us showing results on the scoreboard next year.”
The results showed, despite the sluggish start the team got off to on the tournament’s opening day. Friday, the team shot a 312 group total and found themselves in a tie for 11th place with Ole Miss.
The only senior on the squad, Amanda Mathis, led the team on Friday, shooting a 3-over 75 and found herself in a tie for 23rd.
Sophomore Leigh Phillips and freshman Gina Sharp both finished the opening round with a 78, and both were tied for 43rd heading into the weekend.
Georgia, the SEC Tournament Champions, shot a field best of 285 on Friday, giving them a six stroke lead over the remaining field.
Saturday would see the team play its best golf of the season. The team shot a season-best 295 and took over sole position of 10th place in the tournament.
“We had a really good round today,” Sanders said. “Coming off a sluggish start, I was really pleased at how they came out. We came out and made a lot of birdies today; this was probably our best round all year.”
The Lady Dawgs got two strong performances out of Mathis and Sharp with both players recording even par rounds of 72.
Sharp got off to a fast start as she recorded four birdies on the back half of the course.
She posted a career-low round and was able to move up the leader board into the top 25.
“On the back side, I made four birdies and four bogeys, so it was a little inconsistent,” Sharp said. “But on the front, I made lot of pars. I was hoping to keep it under par, but I’m excited. My best before this was 77.”
Mathis worked her way through the back nine, recording three birdies and headed into the front of the course at 1 under par. After making a birdie on hole No. 2, she was able to get up-and-down after a wayward tee shot to the right on the par 3 third.
Mathis would go on to par the next two holes before picking up a bogey on No. 6 and again on No. 8, where she hit her tee shot off to the right into the long rough along that side of the course. She would recover and par the ninth to closeout her second day round.
“Overall, I was hitting the ball really good, except for a couple of swings,” Mathis said. “I was able to make a lot of putts today. I think I missed only one putt inside of 10 feet, so I feel really good heading into tomorrow. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Not far behind Mathis and Sharp was junior Julia Huh, whose second-round score of 73 was also a season best.
After day two, Georgia still had a commanding lead over the field. UGA had an eight-stroke lead over second place South Carolina. Georgia’s Garrett Phillips shot an even par 72 on Saturday, and stood at 5-under par.
On Sunday, the Lady Bulldogs finished out the tournament, shooting a season best of 914 in the tournament to finish in 10th place.
“I would say this was our best-hitting tournament of the year, and that’s where you want to start peaking is at the end of the season,” coach Sanders said. “We’ve made a lot of progress this spring as a team.”
The Lady Bulldogs finished behind Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, who made up the top five.
Vanderbilt, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas and MSU rounded out the top 10 in the conference.
Mathis finished tied for 14th with Alex Rather of LSU. In what was her last tournament of her college career, Mathis shot a 75 to close out her season.
“I played really solid today, but just couldn’t make a putt,” Mathis said. “With this being my last tournament, I’m a little sad. I wish I would have done better, but I had a really good time. It was really nice to get the chance to host the tournament. We had a lot of people come out and support us.”
The MSU head coach said that she will be losing a great talent in Mathis but sees potential for the future.
“Amanda has obviously been our best player over the past four years,” Sanders said. “I want to congratulate her for on a wonderful college career. But we’ve got a young team, and the future looks bright.