May 13, 2007

Complete Results

Port St. Lucie, Fla. - Ebonie Burgess finished atop the pack for the second consecutive tournament to help lead Bethune-Cookman University to the 2007 Women's National Minority Collegiate Golf Championship held at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Ebonie Burgess doesn't seem like she took a year off at all. In fact, she seems as if she is in better shape mentally and physically for golf than she ever has been. The Bermuda native is placing shots and making putts in a way that head coach Gary Freeman and assistant coach Jack McClairen had been looking for all along.

For the second time in as many tries, Burgess took home the top honors for the tournament by shooting a 274 (+8) for the weekend. In fact, she tied her second-best mark of the year with a low of 71 in the final round of the tournament.

The Wildcats were a substantial 27 strokes ahead of second-place competitor, and defending champion, University of Texas-Pan American going into the final round on Sunday. B-CU went on to win the event by 37 strokes ... 913-950 ahead of the Broncos of UT-Pan Am.

In the four-team event, fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference [MEAC] members South Carolina State and Hampton took part in the annual event as well.

Helping pave the way to victory for the Wildcats, aside from the magnificent play of Burgess, was freshman Matilda Creime. Creime finished second overall for the weekend, and was just four (4) strokes behind teammate Burgess with a 228 (+12) on the event.

All five B-CU golfers finished in the top six players, while UT-Pan Am's Elizabeth Rodriguez placed third overall with a 232 (+16).

B-CU junior Becky Dowell shot an impressive 234 (+18) to finish fourth, while fellow countryman [England] sophomore Fern Grimshaw rounded out the top five golfers with a 235 (+19). Freshman Maria Garrido placed sixth for the Wildcats with a total score of 236 (+20).

South Carolina State finished third overall, while Hampton placed fourth to round out the teams competing in this year's event.

Bethune-Cookman now ends the season having won two consecutive tournaments, but they will not travel on to the upcoming NCAA Golf Tournament without an automatic bid being given to them as the MEAC. The conference does not have tournament championships, but will soon have a championship with the addition of Winston-Salem State University to the conference.

That chance to participate in the NCAA Tournament is something Coach Freeman and Coach McClairen are eager to get a chance to have in the coming years.

For more information on B-CU women's golf, please call the Office of Sports Information at (386) 481-2206, or log on to the website at www.BCCathletics.com.