Feb. 17, 2009
PARRISH, Fla. - The 15th-ranked Purdue women's golf team placed four golfers in the top 15 as individuals to claim third place at the Central District Invitational with a 54-hole total of 888 (+24). Sophomore Maude-Aimee Leblanc landed in a tie for fifth, firing a 218 (+2).
Purdue began its final round 12 strokes off the pace and managed to climb within six strokes of the lead with a 297 (+9) in its final round on Tuesday, but could not find enough to surpass first place Auburn (882, +18) and second place LSU (885, +21).
The Boilermakers put themselves in contention after firing a season-low 286 (-2) in their second round, thanks largely to LeBlanc's second round 68 (-4), which tied both a tournament low and a career best. LeBlanc complemented her second round score with an opening round 77 (+5) and a final round 73 (+1).
Redshirt freshman Thea Hoffmeister finished three strokes behind LeBlanc in eighth place with a three-round total of 221 (+5). Hoffmeister was at one-under-par throughout most of her final round before shooting bogeys on two of her final three holes, giving her back to back 73s (+1) in her final two rounds. Hoffmeister opened the tournament with a 75 (+3).
Senior Maria Hernandez finished in a four-way tie for 11th. Hernandez sandwiched a second round 74 (+2) between a first and third round 75 (+3).
Rounding out the fourth Boilermaker in the top 15 is Junthima Gulyanamitta. Gulyanamitta had a low round 71 (-1) in her second round to go along with her opening 78 (+6) and a third round 76 (+4).
Freshman Vaishavi Sinha finished in a tie for 54th (81-76-81=238, +22). Sinha's highlight of the tournament came in the second round when she fired a 76 (+4).
Finishing behind first place Auburn (882, +18), second place LSU (885, +21) and third place Purdue (888, +24) was: Duke (895, +31), Michigan State (903, +39), Ohio State (907, +43), TCU (909, +45), Kent State (916, +52), Oklahoma (918, +54), Texas (925, +61), South Carolina (936, +72), Iowa State (943, +79), Kansas (946, +82), Missouri (946, +83) and Michigan (949, +85).
The 54-hole event was hosted by Michigan State at the par-72, 6,099-yard River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla.
Purdue will be back in action March 8 to 10 when it competes at the UCF Invitational.