The College of Charleston women’s golf team is set to begin its spring season at the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational in Sarasota, Florida. The event will take place at the Palm Aire Champions Course and is hosted by Michigan State University.
The tournament features a strong field of 15 teams, including 12 ranked among the top 60 in NCAA Division I and one from the top 10 in Division II. Teams participating include Michigan State (ranked 50), Clemson (36), College of Charleston (52), Illinois (48), Kent State (28), Kentucky (30), Michigan (53), Northwestern (23), Ohio State (45), Oklahoma (27), Princeton (47), Purdue (55), as well as Florida International, Iowa, and Maryland.
Palm Aire Champions Course was originally designed by Dick Wilson in 1957 and updated by Michael Benkusky in 2021. The private club has previously hosted several PGA and LPGA events.
Charleston finished its fall schedule with a win at the Edisto Island Invitational, marking the program’s third consecutive victory at that event. Head coach Jamie Futrell earned his 43rd career coaching win during this tournament. “Charleston battled through three days of rainy conditions to secure head coach Jamie Futrell’s 43rd career coaching victory back in October,” according to the team.
Senior Molly Hardwick secured her first collegiate title at Edisto Island, shooting a personal best round of 66 in the final round. She was also the only player to finish under par for the tournament at six-under, winning by eight strokes. Hardwick led all players with eleven birdies over three rounds, including six on the last day.
Teammates Carys Fennessy and Emilie von Finckenstein also placed in the top ten individually. Fennessy finished fourth (+4) for her best collegiate result so far, while von Finckenstein took tenth (+9). Von Finckenstein recorded ten birdies during the tournament.
The Spartan Sun Coast Invitational will be played over two days: Sunday, February 15 will feature 36 holes starting with an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start; play concludes Monday, February 16 with a final round beginning at 8:30 a.m. The course plays as a par-72 over 6,191 yards. Live scoring for the event can be found at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239138/scoring/participants.
Representing Charleston are Carys Fennessy, Adrian Anderson, Emilie von Finckenstein, Emilia von Glahn, Molly Hardwick, and individual competitor Taylor Sieg.
