Sara Brown Wins Individual Title At Landfall Tradition

Oct. 29, 2006

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Michigan State junior Sara Brown shot the third-best 54-hole score in school history on her way to medalist honors at the Landfall Tradition. It was the first individual title for the Spartans since Allison Fouch won back-to-back tournaments in 2003. As a team, No. 22 MSU rallied from 11 strokes behind to tie No. 9 Virginia for first place at 902. The Cavaliers were named tournament champions, however, by virtue of the fifth player's third- round score.

"It is extremely hard to win a collegiate tournament," Michigan State head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll stated. "Bottom line is that Sara played three great rounds of golf. She has improved over the season. She was relaxed and confident.

"I give a team talk each week and I drew from a statement made about the football comeback against Northwestern last week. Instead of worrying about the scoreboard, you have to instead focus on every play at hand, and that's what I told our team. After the tournament Sara came up and told me that's exactly what she did. She is growing and maturing as a great young player and person."

The only player to score under par, Brown won her first tournament with a three-day total of 1-under 215 (74-69-72). The Tuscon, Ariz., native rose from fifth-place after the first round and gained the lead with a career-best 69 on day two. Her round of 69 tied for the third best 18-hole score in school history. Shooting an even par on the final day, Brown registered a four-shot victory over second-place Mandy Goins of Wake Forest.

As a team, Michigan State carded a 295 in the final round to pull even with Virginia. As both the Spartans (305-302-295) and Cavaliers (301-295-306) finished with a 902, a tie-breaker was enforced. Counting the fifth player's score; Virginia's Whitney Neuhauser shot an 80 on Sunday, while MSU's Mandi MConnell had an 81.

"It's a little disappointing to not win the team title, but we had to come from 11 strokes behind today just to put ourselves in that position," Slobodnik-Stoll stated. "We made a few mistakes at key times and that was the difference. Overall though, it was a great tournament and a good confidence booster."

Freshman Laura Kueny notched her second top-10 performance of the year, tying for eighth place at 77-75-74--226. Heather Rose (78-81-72--231) and McConnell (76-77-81--234) finished tied for 18th and 25th, respectively. Rachel Meikle was the fifth Spartan in the lineup and took 49th (87-85-77--249).

Trailing Virginia (902) and Michigan State (902) were No. 16 New Mexico (904), No. 13 Wake Forest (915), Michigan (917), No. 25 Ohio State (920), N.C. State (940), South Florida (944), UNC Greensboro (952), UNC Wilmington (963), Tulsa (963) and Penn State (967).

Michigan State will conclude its fall schedule Nov. 3-5, at the Hooters Match Play Championship in Orlando, Fla.