Sara Grantham Paces Rebels To Fifth At Kiawah

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- Junior Sara Grantham took second at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate with a career-best 70 in the final round, to lead the Ole Miss women’s golf team to a fifth place finish in the 43-team field.  This marks the fourth consecutive top-five finish of the year for the Rebels, who are ranked No. 34.

Grantham came to the Par 4, 18^th hole only needing par to secure second place.  She found herself in some trouble off the tee and landed her third shot approximately three feet off the green.  Grantham chipped in from there to save par and post a career-low 54-hole score of 220 and her best finish as a Rebel.  

She concluded the tournament two back of co-medalists, Central Arkansas’ Nicole Forshner and East Tennessee State’s Sinead O’Sullivan.  With everyone racing to catch a plane flight, the two were declared co-medalists and Grantham was awarded second.  It marked Grantham’s first ever top-five finish and fifth career top 10 showing.  Afterward, she talked about the last shot.

“Several other players in the field had landed in the same location as my ball did, and they ended up in the water (on the other side of the green),” Grantham said.  “When I hit it, the ball landed on the edge of the green and started rolling really fast.  We thought it was going to roll off the green right into the water.  But as it got close to the flag it hit hard and dropped right down in the hole.  It was very exciting.  Everyone was going crazy around the green. 

“It was nice to finally see all the hard work pay off.  We’ve all worked really hard.  The big key is having confidence in me and my team. We feed off each other in that aspect.  We tried to keep the momentum going that we created in the fall.”

Grantham became the second Rebel to finish second in a tournament this year, joining senior Dori Carter, who had two runner-up finishes in the fall.

The Rebels as a team shot 305-306-302913.  Miami and East Tennessee State shared the title with a 904, while Florida (912) moved ahead of the Rebels by one for third.

“We are really proud of the girls and how we finished today,” head coach Michele Drinkard said. “Sara finishing second gives us momentum to come back home and start preparing for LSU’s tournament and the rest of our season. The first tournament is always difficult because you are trying to get back into a routine and remember what it feels like to be in competition.  We really needed this tournament to get the fire back. Even though fifth is a good finish, we are striving to play better and lower our scores.”

Carter narrowly missed another top 10 finish, coming in 11^th with a 73-78-72223.   It marked her 23^rd career top 20 finish.  In addition, the All-American has finished inside the top 20 in all five tournaments this year.

The Rebels will be back in action March 13-15 at the LSU Classic in Baton Rouge, La.

KIAWAH ISLAND INTERCOLLEGIATE KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.

TEAM STANDINGS (TOP 20)

T1. Miami   300-305-299--904 

T1. Central Arkansas  310-300-294--904 

3. East Tennessee State  300-306-302--908 

4. Florida    309-303-300--912 

5. OLE MISS   305-306-302--913 

6. College of Charleston  307-310-298--915 

T7. Kentucky   312-302-303--917 

T7. Oregon   310-311-296--917 

9. UCF   306-307-305--918 

T10. Oregon State   319-309-296--924 

T10. South Florida   314-304-306--924 

T12. Western Carolina   306-311-308--925 

T12. Augusta State   315-307-303--925 

T14. Illinois State  320-305-301--926 

T14. Oral Roberts    303-318-305--926 

16.  Toledo    319-300-308--927 

17. Nebraska   309-314-305--928 

18. William & Mary   318-310-301--929 

19. Middle Tennessee State   311-312-308--931 

20. Elon University   328-302-307--937 

OLE MISS INDIVIDUALS           

T2. Sara Grantham   74-76-70--220 

11. Dori Carter  73-78-72--223

T48. Jillian Brodd  80-72-80--232 

T103. Rachel Ingram   78-80-82--240 

T148. Ashley Lance   85-83-80--248

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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