April 3, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The fourth-ranked Purdue women's golf team finished tied for second at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, tying its best finish at the 39th annual tournament.
The Boilermakers fired a 287 in the final round to finish tied with No. 7 Duke (291-296- 281=868) for second place with a team score of 868 (284-297-287, +4). Third-ranked Alabama won the event by eight strokes after firing a 283 on Sunday to finish at a four-under par with a team total of 860 (-4).
Georgia's Marta Silva Zamora earned medalist honors by carding a five-under par 67 in the final round for a total score of 212 (-4). Purdue senior Numa Gulyanamitta held the individual lead going into the last round, but fired a 76 on the last day to finish tied for sixth with a score of 220 (71-73-76, +4). She was the Boilermakers' top finisher.
Sophomore Laura Gonzalez-Escallon tied for 11th place at 223 (72-76-75, +7). The native of Belgium recorded a 75 on Sunday to finish seven-over par for the tournament. Senior Maude-Aimee LeBlanc turned in the lowest score of the day for the Boilermakers, firing an even-par 72 to move up to a tie for 15th. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native's total for the 54-hole event was a 224 (75-77-72, +8).
Senior Thea Hoffmeister equaled her opening round score with a 74 to tie for 47th place with a 229 (74-81-74, +13), while sophomore Paula Reto tied for 95th with a 239 (78-82-79, +23).
No. 18 Georgia was the host to the field of 23 teams participating in the 54-hole event April 1 to 3, at the University of Georgia Golf Course, a par-72, 6,335-yard venue. Thirteen of the top-25 teams according to Golfweek played in the tournament.
The Liz Murphey Classic featured a unique scoring format. The five golfers from each school played together and the four lowest scores on each hole counted toward the team's total score.
Purdue will now have three weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Northwestern in Glencoe, Ill., April 22 to 24. Head coach Devon Brouse's Boilermakers are the three-time defending conference champions and are looking to become the first team in school history in any sport to win four-consecutive Big Ten titles.