Oct. 15, 2008

C-USA Golf Notebook

IRVING, Texas- Conference USA men’s and women’s golf teams are traveling the nation, walking the green, and running towards the top of the polls. In the most recent polls distributed by Golfweek, C-USA teams are continuing to rank among the nation’s top 75. Tulsa’s women moved up the polls to No. 26 followed by UCF (No. 35), Tulane (No. 60) and East Carolina (No. 68). On the men’s side, Tulsa leads C-USA teams taking the No. 29 slot, followed by UAB (No. 46), UCF (No. 49) and Memphis (No. 52).

Conference USA’s 2007 Freshman of the Year Kelly Kraft of SMU, and UCF freshman Marika Lendl have been named C-USA Golfers of the Week for the period ending Oct. 14. Kraft captured medalist honors at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala., after firing a six-under-par 204 (67-68-69). Lendl paced the Knights after setting a new school record at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Knoxville, Tenn., firing a two-under-par 214 (68-70-76) to finish in sixth place overall.

MEN’S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
KELLY KRAFT, SMU
So., Denton, Texas
Kraft the 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year and a second team All-Conference selection, captured medalist honors at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate after firing a six-under-par 204(67-68-69). Among the 60 athletes who competed, the sophomore golfer was the only athlete to finish each round with a score below 70. Kraft entered the final day of competition tied for third, but mounted a strong final push to finish at one-under-par and claim the win. Behind his finish, SMU took third place in the loaded tournament, topping two top 10 teams. This is Kraft’s third career weekly honor.

WOMEN’S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
MARIKA LENDL, UCF
Fr., Bradenton, Fla.
Lendl paced the Knights at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Knoxville, Tenn., after setting a new 54-hole school record 214 (68-70-76). Lendl’s 214 eclipsed the previous school record of 216 set by her teammate Stephanie Connelly last season at the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic. Lendl paced the field of 96 golfers in Knoxville after each of the first two days before finishing sixth overall and leading the Knights to tie for ninth. This is the first golfer of the week honor for the freshman.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

CHRISTIAN BRAND - MARSHALL
Brand carded his best round of the fall season, a two-under 70, in the first round of the Xavier Invitational en route to a tie for 40th place. The junior posted all three rounds under par at the event, with back-to-back 71’s to close out the fall season.

DAVID JOHNSON - UCF
Johnson recorded a third-place showing at The Prestige at PGA West firing a five-under par 211 (76-67-68). Johnson led the Knights to a fourth place finish ahead of six top-30 ranked teams according to Golfweek.

ABBY BOOLS - EAST CAROLINA
Bools recorded her 12th career top 10 finish at the UNCG-Starmount Fall Classic after carding a season best 220 (68-75-77) to finish in second place. She helped the pirates to a share of first place in their third event of the 2008-09 season tallying a 54-hole score of 894. In her 24 career tournaments, Bools has a 76.16 stroke average, which ranks third all-time at East Carolina.