(photo courtesy of MercerBears.com) Gary Guyer's team continues to improve and prep for the A-Sun tournament in mid-April.

Climbing the standings on the final day of play at the Barefoot at the Beach Inviational, the Mercer women’s golf team made the most of their recent visit to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina en route to an 11th-place finish in the 15-team field. Jumping Appalachian State and Marshall during the third round, the Bears (+86) would trail a competitive mid-major field in the tournament won by East Carolina (+27).

Hoping to repeat their championship performance in South Carolina as they did to win their second tournament title of the year at the Coastal Georgia Invitational, the team struggled in the first two rounds, posting 315 and 326 on the opening two days of the tournament.

The individual tournament title was taken by ECU’s Fanny Wolte (1st, 69-75-70) with a blistering -2 for the tournament while Mercer’s top two finishers, Lacey Fears (T-32nd, 77-84-73) and Mary Alice Murphy (T-32nd, 79-77-78), returning from an injury, would finish in the middle of the field. After resting for the past few tournaments, Kimberly Graff (T-47th, 80-79-78) continues to work on her game for the A-Sun Championship while teammates Keri Lynn Carson (T-64th, 79-86-82) and Aurelie Wiriath (T-77th, 90-88-80) rounded out Mercer’s entries.

Notably, the Bears would finish behind A-Sun rivals East Tennessee State (3rd, +39), Kennesaw State (4th, +52) and Campbell (T-7th, +66).
Mercer’s next tournament and final tuneup before the A-Sun Championship will be at the Plantation Inn Golf Course at Crystal River, Fla., in the University of Cincinnati Spring Invitational on March 25-27.