Women’s golf earned a win at their first event of the spring, and that team play will carry them this season. | Courtesy of UH Athletics
Although each player on the women’s golf team had strong individual performances, it was their collective score that won them the University of Central Florida’s Challenge Championship.
Senior Raegan Bremer finished No. 6 overall, while junior Emily Gilbreth finished No. 11 and sophomores Megan Thothong, Yuka Kajiki and Maddy Rayner finished No. 16, 28 and 77 overall, respectively.
The Cougars trailed by six strokes to the University of Missouri entering the final day of the tournament, but they were able to rally and overcome the deficit to win just their second team championship in school history.
After their impressive outing, the women moved up two spots in the national rankings to No. 40, according to Golf Week. The Cougars have the second-highest ranking in the American Conference behind East Carolina University, whom they were able to beat at the University of Central Florida Challenge.
The Cougars’ next challenge and opportunity to move up won’t come until Mar. 7, when they head to the Jacksonville Golf and Country Club to compete at the University of North Florida Collegiate tournament.
After the University of North Florida Collegiate, the Cougars will have three more chances to polish their respective games before they compete at the American Athletic Conference Championship on April 17-19 in Palm Coast, Fla.
Last season, the Cougars finished third overall at the conference championship just 10 strokes behind overall winner the UCF. At the championship, Kajiki and Bremer both finished in the top 10, ending No. 3 and No.6, respectively.
While Kajiki and Bremer will look to achieve the same success at this year’s conference championship, they will have to rely on the rest of the team if they want to win it all.
