After two players won conference awards, the Kennesaw State women’s golf team finished its regular season schedule last week, playing at the Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic from Friday, April 11, to Sunday, April 13, in Athens, Georgia.
The Owls finished above six nationally-ranked teams to finish tied for first during the stroke play portion of the event hosted by the University of Georgia. This marked the second win of the season for KSU and eighth overall under head coach Rhyll Brinsmead.
“Today was huge for our program, to pick up wins over any SEC program is impressive let alone beating all in the field,” Brinsmead said. “We had a ton of fun playing today and I’m so proud of this team for their play today.”
Leading the way for the Owls was freshman Chloe Thornton, who posted a 4-under 68 to win a share of the overall individual title. Thornton is the first Owl to win an event individually this season and it is the third time she was the top finisher in an event for KSU.
The team finished tied with Augusta University at a 2-over 290 — five strokes better than the next best score.
After stroke play ended on Friday, the Owls played two days of match play events where they lost the first two matches on Saturday before tying the final match on Sunday.
“This was an ideal lead up to ASUN Championship, as we were able to play stress-free golf and work on execution,” Brinsmead said. “We are still pleased with the title win for the stroke play portion of the Liz Murphey. This is a huge accomplishment for the program.”
In the weeks before KSU commenced its final event of the regular season, two players were selected as the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week.
Senior Medy Thavong earned the honor on March 28 after finishing fourth overall at the El Tigre Invitational in Mexico, where she carded an even-par score of 216. Thavong was the top finisher for the Owls and led the team to second place. It was her fourth career Player of the Week award.
Redshirt junior Clara Aveling followed suit, winning the award on April 11 after posting a 2-under total and finishing sixth overall at the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Georgia. Aveling has three top-10 results this season and has been the top scorer for KSU three times in her career.
The Owls will now set their sights on defending their ASUN Conference title next week from Sunday, April 21, to Tuesday, April 23. Last year, KSU finished in first place by nine strokes and had the top individual finisher as Madison Caldwell won by two strokes.
