HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team fired a final-round 291 on Tuesday to grab the title at the Little Rock Women’s Golf Classic played at Diamante Country Club.

UCA, which had the lowest round of the day by six strokes, vaulted from sixth place to the championship, its second in four years at the tournament, and fourth consecutive Top 2 finish at the tourney.

Senior Emma Svensson, the medalist at the 2015 tournament, was the catalyst, shooting a 4-under 68 on Tuesday to finish fifth overall (73-78-68_219). Svensson, from Halmstad, Sweden, had six birdies and two bogeys on the day. 

Freshman Tania Nunez tied for 13th place with rounds of 79-74-71_224, while freshman Elin Kumlin tied for 16th (76-77-74_227). Freshman Karley Whittington shot 75-74-80_229 and tied for 23rd, while senior Sally Fridstrom shot 80-79-78_237 and tied for 55th. Freshman Gracen Blount shot 74-82-81_237 and also tied for 55th.

Missouri State finished second at 900, followed by UTEP (902), Western Kentucky (904), Lamar (907), South Alabama (909), Utah Valley (913), UMKC (920), Little Rock (925), Houston Baptist (925), ULM (927), Northern Iowa (931), UT Arlington (933), Arkansas State (943), Stephen F. Austin (956) and McNeese State (975).

By finishing ahead of Little Rock, UCA picked up two points in the “Governor’s I-40 Showdown” and now leads the year-long competition 14.5 to 3.5.

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    MONTGOMERY, Texas – The top-seeded University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team sits in second place after Round 1 of the 2018 Southland Conference Championship being played at Woodforest Golf Club.

UCA shot 299 and is two shots behind Houston Baptist and six shots ahead of third-place Sam Houston State. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is fourth at 306, followed by McNeese State (308), Lamar (311), Incarnate Word (314) and Stephen F. Austin (318).

UCA freshman Geraldine Wong is in second place overall after opening with a 1-over 72. Wong had an eagle on No. 6 to go with three bogeys for her 72. She trails HBU’s Alisa Chong by a stroke and is one stroke in front of HBU’s Kaity Cummings.

UCA senior Fernanda Lira and junior Emma Svensson are tied for seventh place with 4-over 75s, while freshman Tasha Ainsley-Thomas is tied for 14th (77) and freshman Brett Permann is tied for 28th (80).

The second round is set for Tuesday morning, with the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday morning. UCA is a three-time runner-up at the SLC Championship.

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. _ University of Central Arkansas sophomore Emma Svensson shot a 1-over 73 on Tuesday and took home medalist honors at the Southern Miss Golden Eagle Jam at Hattiesburg Country Club.

Svensson, from Halmstad, Sweden, shot rounds of 67-71-73_211 to beat Southern Miss’ Kelly Erasmus by two strokes. Svensson, the reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, led UCA to a third-place finish overall behind Southern Miss and Murray State. Svensson also tied her own school record with the first-round 67 on Monday.

Southern Miss had an 880 total, followed by Murray State (881), UCA (292-293-304_889), Louisiana-Monroe (907), West Florida (912), UAB (931), Tennessee Tech (934), McNeese State (937) and Lipscomb (961).

Behind Svensson, senior Brenda Gonzalez tied for third with rounds of 71-76-71 for a 2-over 218. Junior Fernanda Lira tied for 19th (78-75-77_230), while sophomore Cindy Oh tied for 23rd (78-71-83_232) and freshman YeJi Lim finished 46th (76-81-84_241). Senior Morgan Best, playing as an individual, shot 81-76-77_234) and tied for 27th place.

UCA competes next at the Little Rock Women’s Golf Classic at Hot Springs Village on Nov. 1-2.

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