SINEAD O'SULLIVAN FROM

GALWAY SCORES FIRST

WIN IN UNITED STATES

Sophomore student Sinead O’Sullivan from Galway, Ireland became only the second women’s golfer in East Tennessee State University history to win an outright individual collete tournament championship, and her efforts helped power the ETSU women’s golf team to its first team championship of the 2007-08 season.

The Buccaneers dominated the Lady Jaguar Invitational tournament, pulling away to a 17-stroke win over Southern Mississippi at the Azalea City Golf Course (Par 72, 6071yd) at Mobile, Alabama.
O’Sullivan, pictured above, fired a three-under-par 69 in the final round to win the individual title by three strokes with a 36-hole total of one-under-par 143 from Virginia Espejo (Southern Mississippi).

Also in the winning East Tennessee State team was twice former Welsh girls champion Lucy Gould. She scored 79 and 76 for 155 and a share of 19th place.
“It really feels good to win, and I hope our team holds on to that feeling the rest of the year,” said ETSU head coach Stefanie Reynolds, whose team now has a victory as well as a strong fourth place finish in its first two events of the spring season.

“After our practice round here we talked a lot about our goals this year. We want to win every tournament we play, and winning a conference championship is just one step. We want to make nationals and play well there.”
As for O’Sullivan, Reynolds said she could see this type of performance coming from the young sophomore.
“Sinead has always been a quiet competitor that we could count on to post a good score,” Reynolds said. “We talk about how having a player go low is crucial to winning a tournament, and this time Sinead gave us that score. She just started making birdies and feeling good about her game. I was really proud of her.”
O’Sullivan said she was obviously happy with the victory – both individually and as a team.
“It’s great to have my first college win. I’m really happy,” O’Sullivan said. “The hardest thing was playing the wind, but I was able to fight through it. I left a few shots out there yesterday (in the first round), so I was eager to get out there today and learn from those mistakes. I had three birdies and an eagle on the front nine, and I knew the back nine was tougher, but I was able to play well and not make many mistakes”
Portia Abbott from Wiltshire, a student at Jacksonville State Univesity, tied for 24th place on 156 with rounds of 79 and 77.

Clara Leathers from Aylesbury, a student at Middle Tennessee University, came joint 47th with 87 and 75 for 162.

Shirley Harvey from Belfast, a student at Southern Alabama University, scored 89 and 80 for a share of 81st place on 169 in a field of 98.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

(par 72, 6071yd)
143 Sinead O'Sullivan (East Tennessee State) 74 69.
146 Virgina Espejo (Southern Mississippi) 73 73.
148 Natalia Giraldo (East Tennessee State) 73 75.
Also
155 Lucy Gould (East Tennessee State) 79 76 (jt 19th).
156 Portia Abbott (Jacksonville State) 79 77 (jt 24th).

162 Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee) 87 75 (jt 47th).

169 Shirley Harvey (Southern Alabama) 89 80 (jt 81st)

98 players took part.

LEADING TEAM TOTALS
600 East Tennessee State.
617 Southern Mississippi.
627 McNeese State.
18 teams took part.