By Leeroy Francis |Staff writer
The Augusta University women’s golf team finished in a tie for second place with Purdue University on March 18 in the 3M Augusta Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.In the 15-team tournament, Augusta had a team score of 873 or 9 over par as a team. The University of Georgia beat the Jaguars and Boilermakers by nine strokes at 864 to take the tournament.For AU, it was its best finish of the 2017-18 season.“We were playing with two really good teams today, and we beat them both head-to-head for the total day score,” Augusta coach Caroline Hegg said of the final round. “We did our part. Unfortunately, Georgia was a little too far ahead of us, but we had a great tournament to have an under-par round to close it out.”On the par-72, 6,228-yard course at Forest Hills Golf Club (AU’s home course), the Jaguars shot an 8-over-par 296 placing them in a tie for fifth with the University of Memphis in the opening round.On day two, with wet and windy conditions, the Jaguars shot a 2-over-par 290. That vaulted them up two spots on the leaderboard into third place.AU was 14 strokes behind the Bulldogs to start the final day. A final-round 287, or 1 under par, their lowest score of the tournament, helped the Jags share runner-up position with Purdue. The University of Central Arkansas placed fourth at 15 over par and Memphis rounded out the top-5, shooting 889.For all 54 holes, Augusta was led by sophomore Linda Lundqvist, who is from Balsta, Sweden. She tied for third overall, capping off her weekend with a 69.“I played great,” Lundqvist said. “I felt relaxed, I didn’t feel any pressure and having my dad and grandparents here made It feel like home. It was a very good advantage playing here, we play this course every single day and it is a tricky course, so it helps playing it a lot.”Junior Maggie Ashmore finished strong with AU’s low round of the event, a six-birdie 68 to place in a tie for 12th.The women play next at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate, hosted by Kennesaw State, on March 26-27, at Pine Tree Country Club in Kennesaw.Contact Leeroy Francis at lfrancis@augusta.edu