Pirates Finish Chattanooga Classic In 7th

Sunday, March 27

Chattanooga, Tenn.

8 A.M.

East Carolina University

Chattanooga Classic

March 29, 2022 | Women's Golf

Results

Tournament: Chattanooga Classic
Location: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Course: Council Fire Golf Club
ECU Finish: 7th of 20 teams (297-298-296=891; +27)
Top ECU Individual: Kathryn Carson (T2nd, 76-67-69=212; -4)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Senior Kathryn Carson used stellar second and third-round performances to fire a season-best four-under 212 (76-67-69) to tie for a second-place individual finish and lead East Carolina to a seventh-place standing at the Chattanooga Classic Tuesday.

The three-day, 54-hole event was held at the par-72, 6,234-yard Council Fire Golf Club.

"Such an exciting week from Kathryn," ECU Head Coach CC Buford said. "As the most experienced player on our team, it is so rewarding to see such a strong finish compliment an already great career. She is playing some of the most confident golf I have seen from her in our three years together and I'm eager to see it continue to unfold as we prepare for our most exciting events of the season coming up."

The Pirates posted a tournament score of 891 (297-298-296), their second-best spring outing of the 2021-2022 campaign following an 867 at the River Landing Classic on March 7-8. Texas-San Antonio captured the team title with a five-over 869.

Carson bounced back from an opening round 76 with a combined eight-under 136 on the last two days to record her best finish of the season, surpassing a third-place result at the Pirate Collegiate Classic on Sept. 20-21. She was just five strokes off the pace set by Duke's Anne Chen, who shot a 207 to capture medalist honors while competing as an individual, and matched UTSA's Ana Gonzales on the leaderboard. Carson notched her second career Top 5 finish and seventh Top 10 standing.

"I've been working hard to sharpen my short game and putting a lot of extra practice time into my putting, and the putts finally started to fall." Carson said. "I played a lot of really solid golf this week, hitting 35 of the last 36 greens. I feel like the hard work is finally paying off and I can't wait to take this momentum into the next few weeks at our home and conference tournaments!"

Freshman Andrea Miralles Llopis finished tied for 36th after recording a 224 (75-74-75), while senior Julie Boysen Hillestad carded a 226 (70-80-76), which was good enough for a share of 47th. Rounding out the Pirates' lineup were junior Oda Sofie Kilsti (76-79-76=231, T58th) and redshirt freshman Riley Hamilton, who logged a 234 (80-78-76) to tie for 69th.

Statistically, ECU stood fourth in pars (164) and fifth in par-4 scoring (4.10), and individually, Carson was second in par-4 scoring (3.83) and tallied the fourth-highest birdie total with 11.

"As a group, we're still learning what works best for each player to find the magic of everyone competing their best at the same time," Buford added. "We had that during the final round at River Landing, however this week our golf fell short of everyone playing their best. We still have opportunities to find that before we close out the season and look forward to hosting here at Ironwood Country Club next week."

The Pirates will return to action Monday, April 4 when they will close out their 2021-22 regular season schedule by hosting the Ironwood Invitational at Ironwood Golf and Country Club.