NINETY-SIX, S.C. – Coastal Carolina posted the lowest round of the day with a team aggregate score of 300 to win the 2009 Big South Women’s Golf Championship Wednesday afternoon at The Patriot Golf Club at Grand Harbor in Ninety-Six, S.C.  The Chanticleers won by 18 strokes for its first League title since 2005 and receives the Conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.

Individually, Chanticleers’ junior Aruka Felgueroso completed her wire-to-wire lead in the 54-hole event to win medalist honors by two shots over Charleston Southern’s Olivia Jordan-Higgins.  Felgueroso, who entered the final round with a 3-shot lead over Jordan-Higgins, posted a 4-over 76 on Wednesday, compared to Jordan-Higgins’ 75.  Felgueroso is Coastal Carolina’s first Big South individual champion since Ann Maness in 2006.

Coastal Carolina placed four players in the top five, as Jessica Vincent was fourth with a 229, followed by Maness and Alicia Grier tying for fifth-place with a 232.  Maness posted the lone sub-par round of the day with a 71 and made the only eagle of the tournament when she eagled the 465-yard, par-5 18th hole. 

The Chanticleers entered the final round with a 10-shot lead over CSU, and the Lady Buccaneers tallied a 308 on Wednesday to earn runner-up honors with a 929, giving Coastal Carolina the fifth-largest margin of victory in Big South Women’s Golf Championship history.  Jordan-Higgins and Rhiannon Loebs each carded a 75 to lead CSU on the day, and Jordan-Higgins claimed individual runner-up honors for the second consecutive year, as she lost in a five-hole playoff in 2008.

Unlike the first two days, Wednesday’s final round featured ideal sunny conditions and a light breeze.  Following second-place Charleston Southern, Winthrop was third with a 935, while Radford was fourth with a 951.  Gardner-Webb placed fifth with a 971, just ahead of associate member Bucknell (976).  The Bison jumped ahead of host High Point, which finished with a 984.  Associate member Holy Cross finished eighth with a 1,087.  New Big South member Presbyterian tallied a 325 on Wednesday and concluded the tournament with a 1,006, but the Blue Hose’s results do not officially count in the individual or team standings as part of its transition to Division I.

Winthrop’s Sara Hester was third with a 228 (+12), while teammate Brittany Penny tied for fifth at 232.  Eagles’ junior Rachel Smith placed eighth at 233 to claim the final All-Conference spot.  Radford’s Jade Okamoto (234) and Loebs (235) round out the top 10 finishers.  Vincent, Maness, Grier and Smith join Felgueroso, Jordan-Higgins, Hester, Penny, Radford’s Hannah Coles and Gardner-Webb’s Courtney Meyer on the Big South All-Conference team, as the six were voted to the team for their regular-season play.

The final team and individual results appear below in .pdf format.