GOLDEN SUNS OPEN 2007-08 SEASON WITH SIXTH PLACE FINISH AT WEST FLORIDA'S BUBBA WATSON INVITATIONAL

        PACE, Florida – Arkansas Tech Women’s Golf concluded play here Tuesday in the Bubba Watson Invitational hosted by the University of West Florida at the Stonebrook Golf Club by finishing in sixth place.

Tech fired a two-day, 36-hole total of 690 to finish five shots in front of seventh place Spring Hill College and 11 shots behind fifth place University of Mobile. West Florida, the host team, won the tournament by shooting a 640, while Montevallo and Henderson State tied for second place after firing 668s.

The Golden Suns shot 338 in Tuesday’s final round after firing a 352 in Monday’s first round.

Leading the way for Tech was freshman Ana Morales (Bogota, Columbia), who shot a 165 for 36 holes to finish in 11th place. Morales shot a 79 in the first round and then fired an 86 in Tuesday’s final round.

West Florida’s Bhavna Shetty took home individual medalist honors as she fired a nine-over par 153 (77, 76), while St. Leo’s Meghan Costello shot a 155 to finish second and Mobile’s Maegan Rice finished third after shooting a 158 for 36 holes.

Other Tech finishers behind Morales were junior Casey Wheeler (Little Rock, Ark.), who shot a two-day total of 168 (86, 82) to finish in 14th place, while freshman Kyla McIsaac (Kentville, Nova Scotia) carded a 177 (94, 83) to finish in 25th place. Junior Danielle Lewis (Toronto, Ont.), one of two returners this season for the Golden Suns, shot a 183 (93, 90) to finish tied for 33rd place and senior Cassie Bartley (Shirley, Ark.) shot a 186 (99, 87) for 36 holes to finish in 38th place.

The Golden Suns will return to action on Oct. 1-2 when they travel to Oklahoma City, Okla., to compete at the OKC Women’s Golf Classic.

 ARKANSAS TECH                   352   338 – 690

11      Ana Morales                    79      86 – 165

14      Casey Wheeler                86      82 – 168

25      Kyla McIsaac                   94      83 – 177

T-33   Danielle Lewis                 93      90 – 183

38      Cassie Bartley                 99      87 – 186

Team Scores

1.       West Florida                    327    313 – 640            

T2.     Montevallo                      339    329 – 668

Henderson State             338    330 – 668

4.       St. Leo University            339    339 – 678

5.       Univ. of Mobile                337    342 – 679

6.       Arkansas Tech             352    338 – 690

7.       Spring Hill                       348    347 – 695

8.       Harding                           360    358 – 718

9.       West Georgia                  361    360 – 721

Top 11 Finishers (Par 72, Yardage 6,022)

1.    Bhavna Shetty, UWF           77      76 – 153

2.    Meghan Costello, St. Leo     73      82 – 155

3.    Maegan Rice, Mobile           81      77 – 158

4.    Jenna Chadwick, HSU         81      78 – 159

  Tara Steakin, West Fla.       79      80 – 159

6.    Emily Gibson, Montevallo    81      79 – 160

7.    Anna Riss, St. Leo               80      82 – 162

  Morgan Bell, Montevallo      82      80 – 162

9.    Natalia Espinosa, UWF        87      77 – 164

  Rachel Christ, West Fla.      84      80 – 164

11.  Ana Morales, Ark. Tech   79      86 – 165

  Meredith Mosel, HSU           85      80 – 165

         -- Tech Athletics --