Kiira Riihijarvi Brings Home SSC Championship
DADE CITY, Fla. - Lynn University wins its second SSC Women's Golf Championship, while Kiira Riihijarvi from the University of Tampa takes home the hardware as the individual champion. The 2019 event was played at Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club's South Course and was hosted by Saint Leo University.
2019 Championship Central | Individual Full Leaderboard | Team Leaderboard
Women's Final Round Recap:
Riihijarvi brings the Spartans program its first individual SSC championship after shooting 4-Under (69, 72, 71 - 212) for the tournament. The junior from Oulu, Finland recorded the second lowest scoring three-round tournament in SSC history and lowest ever at Lake Jovita during her wire-to-wire victory.
Head coach Missey Jones led her squad to a fourth-place finish with a three-round score of 890. The Spartans were just six strokes off the top team. Freshman Emily Montagnino was among the stellar Spartans as she was second on the team with a 224 (+8). Heather Kipniss was the top Tampa golfer in round two with a 70 and finished at 225. Also competing for the Spartans were Sofia Cadavid and Sydney Stengel.
Matilda Wahren of Lynn University finished in second place with an overall score of 1-under, while Hanna Ahlander of Nova Southeastern University wound up in third place at even par. Rounding out the medalist honors are Synne Lauritzen of Saint Leo University and Amanda Gartrell of Florida Southern College who tied for fourth at 2-over.
Following each round, Lynn and Barry University were separated by just one stroke, with the Fighting Knights prevailing at the end. Lynn's second championship came on the backs of four golfers who finished within the Top-15. The Fighting Knights score of 20-over is the second lowest three-round tournament score in SSC history and the lowest ever at Lake Jovita. Lynn's first SSC tournament win came in 2014 with a 33-over performance at Lake Jovita.
The Buccaneers, who also had four athletes within the Top-15, finished at 21-over for the tournament. Barry's score stands as the third best three-round tournament in conference history and second best at Lake Jovita. At 23-over, Nova Southeastern finished in third place. The Sharks ended the tournament with four golfers inside the Top-20.
Women's Tournament Notes
SSC ladies averaged a score of 77.73 per round for the tournament, with Monday's round being the lowest at 76.93. The 2019 championship is the second lowest scoring on record, following the 77.64 mark set at the 2018 SSC championship. The 2018 tournament was held at the Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton.
Tilda Larsson [Barry] becomes just the 10th women's golfer to finish Top-10 in four SSC championships. Riihijarvi, Wharen, and Gartrell along with Josefina Foa Torres [Barry] each earned their second career Top-10 in the league tournament.
Kiira Riihijarvi becomes the first women's golfer from the University of Tampa to finish Top-5 at the league championship. Last year she became the first to finish Top-10.
Low scoring at Lake Jovita produced the...
2nd Best 3-Round Team Score - Lynn, 20-over
3rd Best 3-Round Team Score - Barry, 21-over
5th Best 3-Round Team Score - Nova Southeastern, 23-over
7th Best 3-Round Team Score - Tampa, 26-over
2nd Best 3-Round Individual Score - Kiira Riihijarvi, Tampa, 4-under
T3rd Best 3-Round Individual Score - Matilda Wahren, Lynn, 1-under
T5th Best Single Round Individual Score - K. Riihijarvi, Tampa & J. Foa Torres, Barry, 3-under
T6th Best Single Round Team Score - Barry, 2-over