Fassi, Razorbacks get second-place finish at Evans-Derby Experience

OPELIKA, Ala. — Maria Fassi and Arkansas’ women’s golf team rallied in the final round earning individual and team runner-up finishes at the Evans-Derby Experience at Saugahatchee Country Club on Monday.

Fassi fired a final round 68 helping Arkansas to the second-best round of the day with a 290 as both moved up the leaderboard. Fassi’s scorecard didn’t have a lot of ink and what it did have was good.

She opened on the first hole of the course and picked up a birdie on No. 4 to turn 1-under.

She added an eagle on the par-5 15th hole and had a second birdie on No. 17 to finish with a 3-under 68. Fassi finished in sole possession of second place shooting 70-76-68=214. Fassi was 2-under moving up 16 spots on Monday.

The championship field featured five of the top-10 teams, and the Razorbacks finished with a 2-over 290 in the final round to move up on Monday.

Arkansas T-2nd featured rounds of 285-299-290=874 and tied the Razorbacks with No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Texas. A 3-under 285 by No. 11 Florida State saw them leapfrog the field for the win at 870.

Senior Kaylee Benton remained steady and finished T-12th shooting 72-73-74=219 while freshman Ximena Gonzalez moved up into a T-30th carding 73-77-73=223.

Senior Dylan Kim finished T-35th with rounds of 70-77-77=224 and sophomore Maria Hoyos rounded out the Razorback scoring with a T-60th shooting 83-73-75=231. Redshirt freshman Julia Dean, playing as an individual, finished T-48th with a 75-75-79=229.

The Lineup

The Field

Up Next
Arkansas takes part in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic April 11-13 in the final regular season event.

The first round of the LMCG is stroke play followed by two days of match play. Arkansas then defends it’s 2018 SEC Championship crown April 17-21 in Birmingham, Alabama.

From Shauna Taylor

I’m really proud of our effort today. I think we were in fourth place with three holes to go and finished incredibly strong. Finishing second against this field is what we need to see and gives us some good momentum for the rest of the season. Maria was bogey-free and 4-under par on her birthday and that’s a nice gift for herself and the team – I’m really proud of her. It was a complete team effort this week and everyone contributed. Ximena and Maria Hoyos did great jobs at different times this week and it was good to see their hard work pay off with some good results. Julia got some good experience this week. I love that. All nine of players have competed in an event this year and that’s such a valuable tool for a coach. It says a lot about our depth.