Spartans Take Second at Mary Fossum Invitational
EAST LANSING -- The Michigan State women's golf team took second place at the 35th annual Mary Fossum Invitational on Sunday at Forest Akers West in East Lansing. Junior Allyson Geer-Park tied for medalist honors with Anna Redding of Virginia as the two tied a tournament record at 9-under-par 207.
In a field that included seven teams from last year's NCAA Tournament, Virginia won with a tournament record 7-under-par 857 (281-290-286), topping the Spartans by two strokes. MSU's 5-under-par 859 (291-284-284) tied its winning score from last year's tournament.
Florida was the only other school in the 16-team field to shoot under par, taking third place at 2-under-par 862 (289-285-288).
"Obviously with two new freshmen in the lineup and another player in Yurika that had limited experience last season, it's a new top five," MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "We've very pleased for only having been together as a team for three weeks."
Geer-Park, who started the day on hole No. 3, was 2-under-par through her first eight holes with two birdies and six pars. She bogeyed the 11th hole, but responded by going 4-under-par the rest of the way. She finished the day at 3-under-par 69 and was under par in all three rounds for the tournament (68-70-69).
"I just tried to stay aggressive all week, not let up and try and get in a good position to make as many birdies as I could," Geer-Park said.
It was the first tournament win for Geer-Park after three second-place finishes last year.
"It feels great," Geer-Park said. "It was definitely on my mind all summer. I played well in the final rounds of some tournaments in the past, but some players just had better rounds than me."
"I feel like it's been a long time coming – in a good way," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "She's had so many second place finishes and we knew she would win this year, we just weren't sure when. She had some incredible experiences this summer and after losing the greatest player in program history last year in Sarah Burnham, she knew she would have to step up and it's great to see that she has done that.
"She's been a Spartan for a long time and told me today she remembered walking the course with Mary (Fossum), so to win this tournament is pretty special."
Paz Marfa Sans took third place at the Fossum for the second straight year, recording a 6-under-par 210 (73-70-67). Her 5-under-par 67 on Sunday was the best round of the day by any player.
"Eight birdies is just an incredible round – and we've seen many from her," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "We saw her maturity and we talked about that on the golf course today. I'm very proud of her effort today."
Yurika Tanida started the day with seven pars and picked up an eagle on the par-5, 17th hole en route to a 2-over-par 74. She finished at 6-over-par 222 (79-69-74) and tied for 24th place.
Like Tanida, freshman Valery Plata was steady on Sunday as she parred 13 of the first 14 holes. She finished at 2-over-par 74 on Sunday and was 10-over-par 226 (76-76-74), tied for 37th place.
Fellow rookie Haylin Harris finished one shot back of Plata at 11-over-par 227 (74-75-78), tying for 45th place.
Catherine McEvoy was the top Spartan individual at 10-over-par 226 (73-72-81).
"We had several players not in the top five play well this weekend, so that was good to see," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "It takes time to adjust when you come to school and that's something we take into consideration."
Michigan State heads to Franklin, Tennessee, next weekend for the Mason Rudolph Championship, Sept. 22-23, at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
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