The golf course was different but the results were very similar as the Georgia women’s golf team won the Windy City Classic for the second straight year on Tuesday. The Bulldogs closed with a 2-over 290 to finish at 10-under 854 and secure the team title by four shots over Stanford.
A year ago playing at the Westmoreland Country Club, the Bulldogs shared the team title with No. 3 Arizona and No. 6 Northwestern at 12-under 852.
“I’m super happy with our team and how they performed today,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “We had a chance last week at the Annika and didn’t get it done. We got right back out there this week and put ourselves in contention again. Hats off to our team. They played great all week. This victory is a big statement early in the year for us on where we are and how we can compete on a national level.”
Georgia’s counting scores on Tuesday were a 1-under 71 from Jillian Hollis, an even-par 72 from Bailey Tardy, a 1-over 73 from Rinko Mitsunaga and a 2-over 74 from Harang Lee. Mary Ellen Shuman’s 75 was the Bulldogs’ drop score.
Georgia opened Tuesday with a four-shot margin and maintained a relatively comfortable cushion all day.
“It seemed like we were leading, but you never know,” Brewer said. “You can never think you’ve won when you’re playing against the best teams in the country because you know they’re going to make birdies. You know you have to keep playing as well as you can, and that’s just what we did. I was finally able to breathe when the scorecards were signed.”
The Cardinal inched past Southern Cal late to finished second four shots back at 858. The Women of Troy finished third at 859 and rounding out the top-10 teams were Florida at 865, Duke at 872, Purdue at 873, Northwestern at 876, Arizona at 879 and Oklahoma State and Oregon both 880.
Tardy finished as individual runner-up, her third top-5 finish in as many events this season. All told, Tardy, a sophomore, now has nine top-5, 11 top-20 and 13 top-20 performances in 20 tournaments for Georgia.
Hollis and Lee also posted top-10 finishes, tying for 10th at 1-under 215, while Mitsunaga tied for 16th at 1-over 217 and Shuman tied for 73rd at 236.
Georgia will wrap up its fall slate next weekend when the Bulldogs compete in the Stanford Intercollegiate on Oct. 14-16.
“One month in we’ve proven we are one of the best teams in the country,” Brewer said. “The way we’re playing, I wish national championships started on October 4, but they don’t come until next May. We have to continue to work and play great golf, but it’s hard to win in this sport and this is a special victory. We’re excited and going to enjoy it.”
Windy City Collegiate Classic
Glen View Club; Golf, Ill.
Par 72; 6338 Yards
Tuesday’s Final-Round Results
Team Leaderboard
Georgia 282-282-290=854
Stanford 291-282-285=858
Southern Cal 281-287-291=859
Florida 291-287-287=865
Duke 288-291-293=872
Purdue 291-290-292=873
Northwestern 281-294-301=876
Arizona 285-298-296=879
Oklahoma State 292-295-293=880
Oregon 293-295-291=880
Ohio State 292-297-296=885
Iowa State 286-297-305=888
Vandebilt 300-309-299=908
Tulane 303-303-305=911
Individual Leaderboard
Andrea Lee, Stanford 68-71-67=206
Bailey Tardy, Georgia 66-69-72=207
Leona Maguire, Duke 66-70-72=208
August Kim, Purdue 70-72-70=212
Linn Andersson, Purdue 73-69-70=212
Gabriella Then, Southern Cal 68-72-72=212
Hannah Kim, Northwestern 66-70-77=213
Marta Perez SanMartin, Florida 73-69-71=213
Karen Chung, Southern Cal 71-70-73=214
Jillian Hollis, Georgia 72-72-71=215
Harang Lee, Georgia 71-70-74=215
Additional Georgia Scores
T16. Rinko Mitsunaga, Georgia 73-71-73=217
T73. Mary Ellen Shuman, Georgia 79-82-75=236