Women's Golf Set to Compete at SSC Championships
Spartans will compete will several of nation's top teams.
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's golf team will compete at the 2018 Sunshine State Conference Women's Golf Championships, which is set to begin with a practice round on Saturday. The tournament will be played at Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton and hosted by Lynn University.
The three-round tournament will start on Sunday at 8 a.m. The following rounds will be played on Monday and Tuesday, with an award ceremony coming after Tuesday's round.
The field includes six teams who are ranked in the GolfRank top-30, including No. 1 Nova Southeastern, No. 4 Saint Leo, No. 5 Barry, No. 6 Florida Southern, No. 9 Rollins, No. 10 Lynn and No. 29 Florida Tech. Tampa comes in at No. 41 in the April 11 rankings.
Head coach Missey Jones leads her squad into the championships with high expectations, as the Spartans have played to three top-five finishes as a team in 2017-18. Sophomore All-American Kiira Riihijarvi leads a Spartan lineup with a 75.48 average. She leads a group of three UT golfers shooting sub-80 as freshman Heather Kipniss averages 77.74 and Sydney Stengel is at 79.71. Riihijarvi's average is a school record for a single-season as Kipniss sits at third behind only Riihijarvi.
Osprey Point Golf Course has received numerous awards since its opening in 2010 and is one of the top public golf courses in Florida. The course provides a serene setting with a Platinum Paspalum turf and features 27 holes spread out in three nine-hole courses. The course is located at 12551 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33498.
The SSC has dominated the national competition in women's golf by winning 16 of the last 17 NCAA National Championships since Division II began its own championship event in 2000. From 1996-99, Division II and III competed in a combined championship. In 13 of the last 17 championships, SSC teams also finished runners-up. Lynn won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. Last year, Rollins took home the National Championship. Nova Southeastern won four-straight from 2009-12. Rollins won five national titles in the time span, including four-straight from 2003-06, and Florida Southern claimed three-straight from 2000-02 and one in 2007. For a more in-depth look at the dominance of SSC Women's Golf, click here.
Click here for the official homepage for the 2018 SSC Championships