Mercer Women Place 10th at LPGA

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor/Columnist

The Mercer women’s golf team had mixed results at this year’s LPGA International Xavier Invitational held at the beautiful course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Finishing 10th out of the 14th place field, all five of Mercer’s travelers had trouble at least once in the tournament, but each showed signs of improvement throughout the three day event.

Daytona State College would win the event with a blistering 894 team score over the three day period, outpacing 2nd place Montana by 13 strokes. Mercer would finish behind South Dakota State at 939.

“We have a very interesting team this year,” said head coach Gary Guyer. “ They have an incredible amount of talent and we work really hard preparing for tournaments. My conundrum is weighing their performance in tournaments against my expectations. We can be a really good squad and we are young so I have to temper myself. In the LPGA Invitational in 2009, we came in dead last and shot a score of 969 for all three days. This year, on the same course, we came in 10th and shot a team score of 939. That is a 30 shot improvement; very impressive. I know they should have had a score around 912 because they are good enough and I get to see them compete every day,” he added.

Individually, Mercer was led by a pair of 33rd place finishes from Lacey Fears (77, 81, 77) and Kaitlin Marrin (78, 78, 79) while freshman Mary Alice Murphy would finish tied with Aurelie Wiriath in 42nd. Alicia Poole would finish in 56th for the tournament. Notably, Wiriath shot the low round for the Bears, carding a 75 during the 3rd round.

Daytona State’s Mitsuki Katahira would take home the individual victory, finishing with at -6, eight strokes in front of Atlantic Sun champion Alex Buelow of Stetson.

The Bears now prepare for the final tournament of the fall, the Lady Paladin Invitational held at the Furman Golf Club in Greenville, South Carolina. Guyer expects a better performance in Greenville before the Bears take three months off from tournament play.

“Our next tournament will be at Furman University in a couple of weeks,” said Guyer. “The competition will be the best we have faced this year. We are going to prepare the same as always and I must find a way to make them believe in themselves. This is going to be a special year for us.”

Nonetheless, the fall season has been a spectacular one for the Bears in which they boast of three top-10 finishes and a tournament victory at the Eat a Peach Collegiate held in September at nearby Oakview Golf Course. The winter will provide a much needed break for the women as they gear up for the four spring tournaments before the A-Sun Championship held in DeLand, Florida in mid-April.

Women’s Golf Shows Big Improvement at Bannister Classic

J. Andrew Lockwood
BearZone Columnist

It had been quite a while since Mercer had someone finish a round in the top spot during tournament play. Freshman Lacey Fears did just that after the first round, leading the Chris Bannister Classic at the Silver Lakes Golf Course in Glencoe, Alabama.

Fears would finish 9th in the final standings after finishing +15 for the tournament (72, 77, 82). Mercer would fall one spot on the final day of play to finish 4th behind tournament champion Jacksonville State, Lamar, and A-Sun rival Florida Gulf Coast. Going into the final round, the Bears even had a chance to take the second spot from Lamar, but finished ten strokes back from the runner-ups and four strokes behind the FGCU Eagles. The Gamecocks of Jacksonville State easily won the tournament, posting a 899 to win by an unheralded 28 strokes over Lamar.

“We had a chance entering the day to set ourselves apart and it just didn’t happen for us,” commented head coach Gary Guyer following the season opening match. “We’ll just have to regroup and work harder,” he reported to MercerBears.com.

Fellow freshman Mary Alice Murphy would climb the standings for Mercer’s top individual finisher, taking 7th place at +14 (81, 72, 77). Teammates Kimberly Graff (+23), Aurelie Wiriath (+28), and Kaitlin Marrin (+30) would finish in 21st, 29th, and 31st respectively.

Depsite the sluggish third round finish, the tournament showed improvement from the Belle Bears who finished in the middle of the seven team tournament. The two freshman were especially impressive in their first collegiate tournament.

After the first two rounds, Guyer commented, “I walked with Mary Alice today and she was striking the ball really well. Two freshman shooting the low rounds today is really encourageing.”

The Bears now have two weeks to prepare for the annual Eat a Peach Collegiate tournament, hosted by Mercer at the local Oakview Golf Course. The tournament, geared towards regional in-state competitors, could see the Bears capture their first tournament title after a two year drought.

2010 Women's Golf Preview

J. Andrew Lockwood
BearZone Columnist

It’s a changing of the guard as the 2010 fall season starts for Gary Guyer’s women’s squad. With only nine players on the roster rather than the 12+ during the past two seasons, competition for the top five spots should be a little easier than in years past. Not that there’s a drop off in talent, but solely because there’s less competition on the team.

“Going into my fourth season, this is the best team we have had from top to bottom,” said Guyer. “Each incoming class is bringing better talent onto our team. The upperclassmen continue to work hard and improve so we finally have a dynamic that makes the entire team better,” he added.

Known for their fierce competitiveness, whatever five qualify for the tournaments will certainly bring their ‘A’ game. Led by the lone senior on the team, Kayli Wicker, Guyer’s younger squad returns several regulars in the top lineup. Junior Alicia Poole struggled last season with aspects of her game, but will look to rekindle the magic she found on the links during her freshman year with the Bears. Sophomores Kimmy Graff, Kaitlin Marrin, and Aurelie Wiriath compiled valuable tournament experience in the fall and spring seasons with all four returning from the A-Sun Women’s Golf Championship last April.

Shooting 305 four consecutive days, the squad peaked at the right time last spring, playing their best tournament golf of the 2009-10 season. Graduate Monica Kelsey finished her golf career in a tie for 8th place in the A-Sun while Graff, Poole, Wiriath, and Marrin found their respective grooves during the three day tournament.

“Last year we took a young team to the conference championship and we scored well,” Guyer added. “This team is going to be even younger. We just finished qualifying for our first tournament which is in Alabama at a Robert Trent Jones Resort. Three sophomores (Aurelie Wiriath, Kaitlin Marrin, Kimmy Graff) along with our two incoming freshmen (Lacey Fears and Mary Alice Murphy) will travel to the this event. They played very well in the three qualifying rounds.”

The Belle Bears also welcome back returning players Keri Lynn Carson and Jessica Arthur while freshmen Lacey Fears and Mary Alice Murphy join the roster. Fears and Murphy, two highly touted recruits, could push the returning letter winners for their traveling spots if they adjust quickly to the collegiate game.

Once again, Coach Guyer will take his team to familiar tournament during the fall and spring seasons along with a few new tournament destinations. The fall schedule includes trips to the Chris Bannister Golf Classic (Jacksonville, FL), the Eat a Peach Collegiate (hosted at Oakview Golf Course here in Macon), the Sea Trail Intercollegiate (Sunset Beach, NC), the LPGA Invitational (Daytona Beach, FL), and the Lady Paladin Invitational (Greenville, SC). The spring session will include a repeat trip to Jacksonville, Kiawah Island (SC), the Barefoot at the Beach tournament in Myrtle Beach (SC), and the Cincinnati Spring Invitational (Crystal River, FL) before the A-Sun Championship in mid April.

“We have a challenging schedule this year with eight 3-day events. I believe we have a chance to finish near the top in some of them,” the coach added in regards to the schedule. “The players need to believe in themselves because I have seen how well they can play. They can win. Several of them can compete with any collegiate player in the country.”