Women's Golf Finishes Fall at Boscobel

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

Finishing 5th in the Boscobel Intercollegiate in Pendleton, South Carolina, the women’s golf team wrapped up their fall schedule and will take a three month hiatus from tournament play until they return to the links in Miami for mid-February’s Qdoba Invitational. Led by senior Monica Kelsey’s 8th place finish as well as junior Kayli Wicker’s first career top ten, the Bears hope to build on the momentum from the tournament in the coming months.

“This was a fun event for us,” commented head coach Gary Guyer. He continued saying, “It was the last tournament this fall so I decided to take two [5 person] teams to the event. We decided the composition of the teams based on four qualifying rounds.”

With a total of ten golfers traveling, Guyer’s second team consisting of Wicker, Kimmy Graff, Kaitlin Marrin, Alex Quagliata, and Kathryn Cook actually had a lower score 647 (325, 322) than Guyer’s tournament team of Kelsey, Carolyn Levy, Alicia Poole, Leslie Choucard, and Aurelie Wiriath that shot a 656 (320, 336). If Guyer’s second team had been competing as a group rather than individuals (tournament rules allowed only one official team of five golfers) they would’ve posted a 4th place finish in the final standings. “The ten girls had a blast being around each other in a different environment and competing against each other during this tournament,” said Guyer.

Individually, Monica Kelsey’s 74 during the first day of the tournament launched her into a tie for second place with Wofford’s Sarah Herbert, the eventual winner of the tournament 148 (74, 74). Looking for her first collegiate win of her career, Kelsey had putting troubles during the second round, resulting in an 83 in her final round.

“I putted really well the first day and that helped me get off to a good start but if I had putted as well during the second day I would’ve finished much better,” said Kelsey following the tournament.

Following Kelsey, Wicker would have her best tournament as a Bear, carding a 78 and 80 to finish in a tie for tenth place. “I have been pleasantly surprised with Kayli’s game lately. She’s worked hard this summer and added about 25 yards to her tee shots to help drop her scores a bit. She is really playing confidently right now,” Guyer stated on MercerBears.com.

Graff, Quagliata, Wiriath, Levy, and Marrin would all finish in the top 25 while teammates Alicia Poole, Leslie Choucard, and Kathryn Cook would round out Mercer’s field.

After facing tough competition this fall, Mercer will continue to see top-notch players and teams as they travel to Miami, Kiawah Island (S.C.), Augusta, Ocala (Fla.), and New Smyrna Beach in the spring for the final five tournaments of 2009-10.