Burris runs away with C-USA title in Fort Myers

Monday, April 17

Fort Myers, FL - Verandah Club

Middle Tennessee

Conference USA Championship

4/19/2017 3:27:00 PM | Women's Golf

Raiders come up just short in search for third team title

By: @MTAthletics

Final Results

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Blue Raider sophomore Jenna Burris is headed back to Murfreesboro Wednesday evening as the Conference USA women's golf individual champion following a dominant 7-under par (67-70-72=209) performance at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers.

Burris, a Manchester, Tenn., native, finished six strokes clear of the second place individuals to run away with the title and propel Middle Tennessee – the No. 5 seed entering the championship – to a second-place finish.

"It really feels amazing to win the individual title here this week," Burris said about her individual championship. "My grandfather has been really sick and I didn't feel great about coming here this week so I knew it would either go really well or really bad. My family wasn't able to be here with me this week but it was just an amazing feeling to be able to win this for my grandfather."

The Blue Raiders (292-291-301=884) finished eight strokes back of team champion Old Dominion, leaving them just short of becoming the first team to win three consecutive Conference USA titles since South Florida did so from 1998 to 2000.

"We really like this golf course a lot," Burris added. "We're two for three here in the last three years and had a really good run this season, we just didn't quite have enough firepower to win it on the back nine today like we did last season."

"I'm very proud of the way Jenna played this week," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "To be one of only three in the field to finish under par this week and to be 7-under par and six ahead of the closest competitor is a great testament to how well she managed the golf course.

"She played with great comfort and was really striking the ball well. Her putting on these greens this week was incredible."

Burris is just the second Blue Raider to win an individual conference title in school history, joining 2006 Sun Belt champion Taryn Durham.

Fellow sophomore Hanley Long notched her second Top 10 finish in two seasons, tying for ninth place at 6-over 222 (75-73-74). Senior Samantha Gotcher tied for 18th place at 9-over par (74-74-77=225).

Freshman Katherine Holmes finished the week tied for 35th, using a birdie on 17 Wednesday to finish at 16-over (76-78-78=232). Junior Cynthia Bounleutay turned in an 18-over 234 (78-74-82) in her first Conference USA Championship appearance.

Burris finished the championship in the top four spots in Par 3, Par 4 and Par 5 scoring while notching a tournament-high 14 birdies through 54 holes.

"Knowing we came in as the fifth seed, we certainly exceeded some people's expectations," Adams stated. "However, I know we are very capable of competing with these teams and I think we played very well as a team throughout the week.

"We came here with a lot of confidence this week on a course we are very comfortable on, Old Dominion just played great today to shoot a 289 on the day in which I thought were the toughest conditions of the week. Hat's off to them – they've had a really great season and have deserved the chance to represent our conference in an NCAA Regional."