CCU Sports Notebook: Women’s golf team shows its potential early

The Coastal Carolina women’s golf team is in California the first part of this week looking to build upon a highly encouraging performance from a week ago as the spring season ramps up for the Chanticleers.

But it will be hard to top what they did in besting a 41-team field to win the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic, which wrapped up last Tuesday.

The Chants shot a 6-under 282 in the final round to tie for the third-best 18-hole score in program history, and most impressively, they did so with each golfer shooting par or better.

Senior Bailey Cocca led the way in the closing round with a career-best 3-under 69, while senior Lena Schaeffner, junior Barbora Bakova and freshman Marie Lunackova each shot 1-under and sophomore Malene Krolboll Hansen shot an even-par 72, which served as the drop score for the round.

For the tournament overall, the Chants shot an 871 (291-298-282) to win by eight strokes over runner-up Chattanooga.

“It was huge. I can’t recall the last time we had a tournament where every single player had at least one round under par,” coach Katie Quinney said. “It was just such a great effort by everyone.”

Hansen’s score didn’t count toward that low finishing round, but she was nonetheless the Chants’ top performer for the tournament overall while shooting a 1-under 215 (68-75-72) to tie for fourth.

Cocca tied for ninth with a 2-over 218.

Lunackova, meanwhile, is the Chants’ top rookie as a 20-year-old freshman out of the Czech Republic, and Bakova – also originally from the Czech Republic – joined the program as a transfer from Montana to further give the roster a boost this year.

The Chants teed off Monday in Fairfax, Calif., at the Bay Area Intercollegiate and wrap up play there Tuesday.

The win last week, though, showed Quinney what this team is capable of while looking to build on the program’s 2015 Big South championship.

“This team is capable of anything,” she said. “If they keep working hard and stay confident, they could really do something really special.”

General Hackler Championship on tap for the men

The Chants’ men’s golf team, meanwhile, takes its turn playing host later this week while holding the 15th annual General Hackler Championship, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.

The competitive field includes North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, East Carolina, NC State, defending champion North Florida, Texas A&M, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Iowa State, Kent State, Virginia Tech and Winthrop.

North Florida returns three of the five golfers who contributed to the tournament championship in 2015.

Meanwhile, Winthrop junior Zach Seabolt and Iowa State junior Nick Voke were part of a three-way tie for the individual championship at the tournament last year, each shooting 4-under 212, and are expected to take their shots at another title.

The week ahead

▪ The Coastal Carolina men’s tennis team, which is off to a 7-2 start, is home for its next seven matches.

The Chants host UNC Greensboro on Thursday (1 p.m.), James Madison on Saturday (10 a.m.) and UNC Asheville on Sunday (1 p.m.).

▪ The Chants’ softball team returns from its trip to Hawaii to host the Chanticleer Challenge this weekend with two games Saturday against Memphis (2:30 p.m.) and Buffalo (4:45 p.m.) and a game Sunday with Furman (12:15 p.m.)

The team is off to an 8-12 start and plays its final game of the Malihini Kipa Aloha Invitational on Tuesday against host Hawaii after starting 1-4 in the tournament in Honolulu.

▪ The Coastal Carolina women’s lacrosse team is home for two games this week, hosting Mercer on Friday (4 p.m.) at Brooks Stadium and Kennesaw State on Sunday (2 p.m.). The Chants are 1-2 to start the season.

▪ The men’s and women’s track and field teams host the Coach O Coastal Carolina Invitational Friday and Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach.

▪ And the Chants’ new women’s beach volleyball team formally debuts this weekend at the Gamecock Challenge in Columbia with matches Saturday and Sunday against Alabama-Birmingham, Tulane, Mercer and South Carolina.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 7:33 PM with the headline "CCU Sports Notebook: Women’s golf team shows its potential early."