ROCKWALL, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's golf closed out the Lone Star Conference Championship with a share of third place after falling 3-2 to West Texas A&M in the semifinal round of medal match play.
The Patriots got wins from both
Karina Duran and
Martha Laremark in both the lead and anchor match, but the Lady Buffs controlled the middle three matches to make the difference.
In Duran's match, she was tied through the opening six holes, but played the final three holes of the opening nine at one under to take a one shot lead. She stayed hot, making three straight birdies to open up a three shot lead. The Lady Buffs got a late rally to bring the lead down to one, but Duran closed the match with a birdie on 18 for a three shot win.
Emmerson Doyle would go off second and ended dead even after nine holes with both players shooting 37. On the back nine however, the Lady Buffs would extend their lead, taking a five up lead.
Lucy Kate Smith played in a tough battle throughout, with neither golfer taking bigger than a three shot lead. She would be down just one after nine, but fell two down to finish the match in a close battle.
Arnie Taguines in the fourth match would fall behind by four after nine holes, but answered with a three under par back nine to begin to claw back in. That second nine run was answered from the Lady Buffs however, and they took a five shot win.
Laremark in the anchor match fell behind four shots in the opening four holes, but added two birdies to cut the deficit to two after nine holes. She added two more birdies in the opening three holes to tie the match, and then took the lead on her 14
th hole before adding one more birdie for insurance to take a three shot win.
UT Tyler will now await their NCAA postseason fate. They currently rank #2 in the latest NCAA West Regional Rankings, with the top 18 teams making it to regionals. Those selections will be published to NCAA.com on April 26
th.
The NCAA West Regional tournament will take place May 4-6 at Pueblo Country Club in Pueblo, Colorado.
