For the second consecutive season, the Lady Bison golf team took home the Great American Conference Championship.
Before the tournament, women’s golf coach Christy Morgan was confident in the team’s abilities.
“We are really playing well right now and we’re really hopeful that that momentum would carry over into the conference tournament,” Morgan said.
After the first round of the tournament, the team finished six shots ahead of second place. Three Lady Bison golfers finished round one in the top 10 individually lead by sophomore Yun-Kim with a 4-over 76.
In the second round, Harding broke the team scoring record at the conference tournament posting a 307 and doubling their lead over second place to 12 strokes.
In round three, Harding took their 12-stroke lead and nearly doubled it again as they finished just short of their record score from the previous day, with a third round 310, 23 shots ahead of second place Henderson State. Emily Plyler and Brittany Marquez both finished in the top five individuals and both received All-Tournament honors.
The men’s team shot 304 on day one, led by freshman Alex Williamson who shot a 74 in the opening round. While the Bisons’ opening round was a solid start to the conference tournament, they still trailed Arkansas Tech by eight strokes going into round two.
In the second round Williamson led the way again with his second straight round of 74, as the Bisons shot a team score of 300, but fell to fourth place.
In Tuesday’s third round the Bisons were yet again led by Williamson, as he posted an even par 72 for his first round of even par this season. Despite Williamson’s strong performance the team still shot a team score of 306 in the final round and finished in sixth place. Williamson’s 4-over score of 220 earned him a fourth place overall finish and All-Tournament honors.
“We just received our first ever NCAA region ranking,” said men’s head golf coach Dustin Howell. “We are really looking forward to the possibility of playing past the conference tournament into the super regional tournament in Kenosha, Wis.”
Both Harding golf teams now have to wait until April 29 to see if they will advance to the 2013 NCAA Division II Super Regional Championships.
