Blue Raiders Place Third at Fall Invitational

Monday, October 5

Braselton, Ga. - Chateau Elan Golf Club

Middle Tennessee

CSU/KSU Fall Invitational

10/6/2015 2:15:00 PM | Women's Golf

Denton Sets Career Low Three-Round Total

By: @MTAthletics

Final Results

BRASELTON, Ga. – With the tournament leader in sight as day two begun, Middle Tennessee was unable to ever take the lead in the final round of the CSU/KSU Fall Invitational.

Chattanooga held their ground in the final round with an even-par performance to seal the team win by one stroke. Ole Miss made a charge in the final round with a four-under 284 to finish in second place.

The Blue Raiders finished the tournament with a two-over 290 in the final round, finishing in third place at eight-under par (283-283-290=856) and just four strokes off the pace set by Chattanooga.

"We had another great week of scores but just came up a little short," head coach Chris Adams said. "I'm proud of the effort but we just didn't make enough putts while Chattanooga and Ole Miss were making their putts."

Despite dropping to third place on the final day with Chattanooga and Ole Miss being within striking distance, the three-round total of 856 will stand as the second-best total in school history. The performance comes only one week after the Blue Raiders set a new school record of 850 (-14) at the Johnie Imes Invitational.

Samantha Gotcher paced the Raiders on Tuesday with a final round of one-under 71 to finish one-under (72-72-71=215) for the tournament. Only Maddie Denton outperformed her for Middle Tennessee with a two-under 214 (70-72-72). Her score placed her in seventh in the field while Gotcher finished tied for eighth.

Denton's three-round total of 214 also stands as her new career low, beating her score of 215 at last week's Johnie Imes Invitational.

"I'm extremely proud of the under-par rounds we have put together," Adams added. "It is taking a team effort and Maddie along with the other seniors are playing like leaders the way they should be. Everyone is stepping their game up. We just have to keep it going and continue to improve."

Emily Miller joined Gotcher in a tie for eighth at one-under (69-71-75=215). Avery George birdied her last hole of the tournament to move to even-par (74-70-72=216) and tied for 14th in the field. Jenna Burris rounded out the lineup with a one-over 217 (72-70-75) and finished tied for 18th.

The results mark the second straight tournament in which Middle Tennessee has placed all five golfers in the top 20 of the individual leaderboard and is their third top three team finish in four tournaments this fall.

Middle Tennessee will return home to prepare for the Blue Raider Invitational, which takes place on Oct. 19-20 at Old Fort Golf Club. The Raiders will be looking for their fourth team title at the event in just it's fifth year of existence.