DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson women's golf team put on a furious final day rally on Tuesday to win their Hatter Fall Classic at Victoria Hills Golf Club for the third consecutive season. Freshman Anna Hancock's (Lakeland, Fla.) two under par round-of-the-day 70 drove the Hatters to make up a seven-stroke overnight deficit and nudge Daytona State by one shot. Freshman Alexandria Buelow (Palm City, Fla.) made 13 straight pars down the stretch to shoot even par 72 and win her first career individual title at +2 overall, one shot ahead of Emma Tayler (Bethune-Cookman).
Hancock and Buelow put up the two top final round scores in the 40-golfer field and got help from sophomore Lauren Cate (St. Augustine, Fla.), who shook off a double-bogey six on the opening hole to shoot two over par 74 and take eighth place overall (+11). Hancock's 70 was a dramatic reversal from her 81-78 on Monday and vaulted her into a 10th place finish at +13. Senior Lauren Darnell (Gainesville, Ga.) shot 77 and tied for 11th at 14 over par while junior Alex Banham (Birmingham, England) came in with a 79 and a tie for 26th place (+25).
Stetson junior Lauren Eliopoulos (Akron, Ohio) and sophomore TJ Adipietro (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) competed as individuals this week; on Tuesday Eliopoulos carded 81 and Adipietro 83 as the former made a 13-stroke improvement from her first two rounds and the latter got back three strokes from her second round score.
Buelow (+2) and Tayler (+3) edged Florida Southern's Silvie Dittertova (+7) with Mitsuki Katahira (Daytona State) taking fourth at +8. Melanie Audette (Florida Southern), Marilyne Cadieux (Florida Atlantic) and Ericka Schneider (Daytona State) rounded out the top five in a tie at nine over par.
Stetson (+40) took top honors in this tournament without the services of Victoria Hills master Danielle Jackson (Seminole, Fla.); the senior who won both the 2008 Hatter Fall Classic and 2009 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship on her home track is attending LPGA Futures Tour Qualifying School. Daytona State (+41) and third place Florida Southern (+46) were followed in the team standings by Florida Atlantic (+48), Bethune-Cookman (+70), USC Upstate (+94) and Lipscomb (+150).
The Hatters conclude the fall season with four top five finishes in five events; Buelow recorded four top five finishes and a top 10 including this victory.
Courtesy: Stetson University
