Championship Central
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. - The 2016 Sun Belt Women's Golf Championship is set to begin on Sunday, April 17 at the Raven Golf Club at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, Fla. The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days beginning with Sunday's first round and concluding on Tuesday.
Golfers from nine Sun Belt teams will take to the 6,171-yar par-71 course. Sunday's opening round begins at 7:30 a.m. CT with a shotgun start as teams will continue to tee off until 8:51 a.m. CT.
The Troy Trojans have won back-to-back women's tournament titles and will look to become the first team to win three consecutive tournament titles since 2012. The Trojans enter the 2016 tournament ranked second in the league in scoring average (75.02) but come into the championship with three tournament wins this season. Fátima Fernández Cano, who is ranked 21st in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings, has won five of her eight tournaments this season and ranks seventh in the country with a 71.74 stroke average and -0.17 score versus par. She enters the Sun Belt Championship ranked 200 spots ahead of the league’s next ranked player in the Golfstat national rankings and has won three of the league’s four Golfer of the Month awards this year.
The Bobcats of Texas State enter the championship as the top ranked team according to Golfstat's rankings with a 74.79 scoring average. In head-to-head competition, Texas State has fared better than four other league schools. Lora Assad leads the strong Bobcats contingent with a 74.22 scoring average in 23 rounds played this year. Assad's teammate, Millie Saroha, ranks fourth in the league behind Assad with a 74.87 average.
In fact, five of Texas State's women's golfers rank in the top ten in Sun Belt scoring averages.
The Little Rock Trojans enter the tournament ranked third in the league in scoring average. Led by Stina Resen, Little Rock has three individuals ranked among the league's top 11 in scoring average. Resen is second overall (74.07), followed by Sabrina Bonanno (75.90) and Shania Berger (75.78) at 10th and 11th, respectively.
Resen earned individual medalist honors at the 2015 Sun Belt Championship as Little Rock took third-place as a team. With weather shortening the tournament to 36 holes, Resen totaled four birdies in her final round to finish the tournament at 2-under par. Bonanno placed tied for 15th-place overall.
Most recently, the Trojans won the Kansas City Shootout at Shoal Creek Country Club. Little Rock played well enough in the final round to overcome a nine-stroke deficit through 36 holes. Resen placed second among individuals and Berger tied for sixth to give the Trojans a pair of top-10 individuals.
New to this year’s event will be live video coverage from the Sun Belt. The league will broadcast live from the Raven with coverage of the No. 10 and No. 13 tee boxes and the No. 9 and No. 12 greens. Fans can access this video by visiting www.SunBeltSports.org. Live scoring will be available through GolfStat.com as well as on the Women's Golf Championship Central page.