Tubert leads Razorbacks Sunday

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – University of Arkansas junior Emily Tubert carded a final round 71 to tie for seventh leading the eighth-ranked Razorbacks to a tie for fifth place after final round action of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head Island, S.C., Sunday.

Tubert posted a 76 in the first round and was tied for 34th after Friday’s round but rallied with a 70 yesterday and Sunday’s 71 for 217 and a tie for seventh place overall.

The Burbank, Calif., native opened her day on the fifth hole and quickly birdied the par five sixth and the part three eighth holes.  She would pick up two bogies as well to finish even for the day.

“We continue to learn and improve each time we are on the golf course,” Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said.  “I’m pleased that we put ourselves in a position to win the tournament again this week. We had a pretty solid week overall.  This is a championship golf course and it exposed a few weaknesses we have to come home and tidy up and work on.  Overall this group is great at taking it in stride and knowing that each week we learn and get better.

“We had some pretty good individual performances with Emma and Emily with top 10 finishes and we are working hard to put it all together,” she continued.  “We are right where we need to be and it’s just getting everything to sync up mentally and mechanically.”

Junior Emma Lavy, a Fayetteville, Ark., native, was the first round leader shooting a career-best 68 on Friday.  Lavy finished tied for ninth overall shooting 219 with rounds of 68-77-74.

Freshman Gabriela Lopez tied for 22nd overall shooting 224 with rounds of 71-74-79.  Senior Victoria Vela was tied for 49th overall with a 232, shooting 81-77-74 and freshman Regina Plasencia tied for 57th overall with 78-77-80 for 235.

Fourth-ranked Alabama came from behind to win the tournament finishing with 876.  Fellow SEC members No. 35 LSU and No. 11 Vanderbilt tied for second with 880, followed by No. 17 Arizona State with 886 and No. 8 Arkansas tied No. 3 North Carolina with 889.

The Razorbacks were in second place after the first round shooting 293 and added back-to-back rounds of 298 for 889 and the program’s fifth consecutive top five finish this season.

The rest of the field includes No. 19 Virginia with 894, No. 42 UCF and No. 29 Tennessee with 902, No. 14 Georgia with 914, Furman and No. 46 South Carolina with 921, TCU with 923, No.44 Wake Forest with 926 and No. 37 Auburn with 938.

The Razorbacks return to the golf course March 22-24 at the LSU Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La., followed by the Bryan collegiate March 29-31 in Brown’s Summit, N.C., prior to the SEC Championship.