Keith Jaco
Staff writer
For the third-consecutive year and 12th time in school history, Murray State women’s golf has won the OVC Championship, defeating second place Eastern Kentucky by 20 strokes.
The Racers finished the tournament with scores of 291-289-284?864, bringing home Head Coach Velvet Milkman’s 12th career OVC Championship.
Milkman was ecstatic with how her team came out and performed this week.
“I’m extremely proud with how the girls played,” Milkman said. “They played fantastic throughout the week and deserved to win. They put in all of the hard work this year and it never showed until the end; After putting all three rounds together, it all came together.”
Murray State held a three-shot lead after round one and a five-shot lead into the final round over EKU.
EKU finished behind the Racers on scores of 296-289-299?884 while Jacksonville State finished in third place on scores of 294-302-291-887.
Graduate student Anna Moore, from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, received first place honors, beating out her teammate senior Linette Holmslykke, from Vejle, Denmark, by one stroke.
Moore finished the event as one of three participants under par, scoring three-round totals of 73-66-72?211 while Holmslykke scored totals of 71-72-69?212.
Senior Jane Watts, from Versailles, Kentucky, contributed to the Racers’ first-place effort placing in fifth place with scores of 72-76-71?219. Junior Raeyesha Surendran, from Selangor, Malaysia, finished the tournament in seventh place on scores of 75-75-72?222.
With two players finishing in first and second, Milkman couldn’t have been prouder of her team’s effort.
“It’s been a fantastic week for both [Moore] and [Holmslykke],” Milkman said. “The seniors had to come in and play well and finish at the top of the leaderboard for us to have a chance. For them to finish one and two was really remarkable. Everybody did their part and finished well this week.”
Milkman says her team’s recent late-season surge played a big part in winning the OVC Championship this week.
“We started to play better during the last few tournaments and played to our potential,” Milkman said. “That last round has been our nemesis but today we went out and learned from the struggle and played very well.”
Murray State will participate in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Monday, May 6, at Auburn University Golf Course.