Tuesday, April 19, 2016

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Michelle Waters birdied the first playoff hole Tuesday to hold off a valiant comeback by Saint Martin’s Jennifer Liedes to lead Simon Fraser to the team championship at the 2016 GNAC Women’s Golf Championships at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course.

Waters, who shot Monday’s low round of 3-over-par 74, turned in a 77 on the second round to finish the day at 9-over-par 151. Liedes, who shot 80 on Monday, put together a record day with her round of even-par 71. That bettered the championships single round record of 73 set in 2013 by Western Washington’s Claire Ranchor and also sent Liedes into the clubhouse with a 9-over-par 151.

In the first round of the playoff on the course’s par-5, 499-yard first hole. Liedes saved a second shot into the trees with a solid chip shot on her third stroke, landing eight feet from the hole. Her try for birdie, however, ran just long of the hole and Waters holed her birdie put from six feet away to earn medalist honors.

It was a tournament of firsts for Waters, who led a tournament for her first time as a collegiate golfer. “Honestly I have never been in that situation before,” she said of the playoff. “I led on the first first day and I had never been in that spot either so leading up to the playoff I had never nerves like that before on the first tee.”

Warers’ performance helped lead her Simon Fraser to another first. The Clan pulled away in the final three holes to compile a GNAC Championships record two-round team score of 617 to win their first team championship. It also ended a string of five straight championships for Western Washington dating back to the start of GNAC women’s golf in 2011. The Vikings finished a close second with a score of 625.

The Clan’s team score of 617 bettered the previous 620 set by Western Washington in 2013.

Liedes earned runner-up honors after falling in the playoff round. Simon Fraser’s Kylie Jack and Western Washington’s Jenn Paul tied for third place at 11-over-par 153, with both players scoring 79 on the opening round and 74 on the final round. The Vikings’ Audrey Orem finished fifth at 13-over-par 155.

Saint Martin’s finished third in the team competition with a score of 634. Concordia and Northwest Naxarene tied for fourth at 644 while Montana State Billings was sixth at 646.