Brits McGeehan, Ponte and Townend help 

Texas-San Antonio win for first time since 2012

     Texas-San Antonio's winning line-up ... by 21 strokes!

FROM THE TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO WEBSITE

Julie Houston won her second consecutive individual title to lead the UTSA women’s golf team to the team championship at the Islanders Classic, which wrapped up on Tuesday at Corpus Christi Country Club (par 72/6,093 yards).

The Roadrunners carried an 18-shot lead into the final round after registering a 4-over-par 289-291—580 on Monday. 

UTSA shot a 304 in windy conditions and cruised to its first tournament win since the 2012 Southland Conference Championship with an 884 to finish 21 strokes in front of Lamar (905).

“We had one goal this week and that was to come away with a win,” said eighth-year head coach Carrie Parnaby, who has led UTSA to all eight of the program’s team crowns. 

“I am proud of the girls and how they extended the lead with each round. Today, we faced difficult conditions and our team competed with confidence and pride. There were a lot of positives from the tournament that we will draw on as the season goes on.”

Houston entered the final round with a five-shot lead after posting a 5-under 68-71—139 on Monday. The freshman turned in a 76 and held on for victory with a career-best 1-under 215, three strokes ahead of Lamar’s Olivia Le Roux (72-72-74—218). The Allen native led all players with 10 birdies and played the par fours at two under.

“After last week’s win, I had a lot of confidence and energy coming into this tournament,” Houston said. “After having such a great first round, I knew I had it in me to keep myself in position to win. I’m happy that I was able to help the team win the tournament. This really proves that all the hard work is paying off.”

Houston, the reigning Conference USA Player of the Week after claiming medallist honours at the All There August Challenge on Feb. 14-15, became the first Roadrunner to win back-to-back tournaments and the second to capture two titles in the same season (Allie Jordan, 2008-09). Her win also marked the 12th individual crown in program history.

“For Julie to win back-to-back titles is remarkable, especially being so new to college golf,” Parnaby said. “Her attitude and drive is contagious. We are very happy with her results. She has worked very hard for this.”

Nikki Long and Becky McGeehan, whose father works at Gutersloh, Germany, also finished in the top five to help guide UTSA to its third Islanders Classic crown (2009, ’12).

Long carded a 74 to close out a 6-over 222 (75-73-74) and tie for fifth. The sophomore from San Antonio Johnson High School posted eight birdies and was two under on par fives for the tournament.

McGeehan also tied for fifth after carding a 76 to follow a pair of 73s on Monday. The sophomore from Germany was steady with a tournament-best 38 pars and she matched Long by finishing two under on the par fives.

Aimee Ponte, from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, tied for 14th with a 229 (77-74-78) and senior Brogan Townend from Blackburn tied for 20th with a 232 (73-80-79) to round out the UTSA line-up.

Houston Baptist, for whom junior Charlotte Hartshorn from Nuneaton shot 76-77-80 for a T23 placing in a field of 63 players, finished third with a 906, followed by Sam Houston State (923), Central Arkansas (924), North Texas (929) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (933) in the top seven of the 11-team field.

The Roadrunners will return to action on March 5-6 when they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the SunTrust Gator Invitational.