Mustangs Open 2017 At UCF Challenge

Sunday, February 5

Orlando, FLA.

All Day

SMU

2017 UCF Challenge

Feb 2 | Women's Golf

2017 UCF Challenge
Date	Sunday-Tuesday // Feb. 5-7, 2017
Location	Eagle Creek Golf Club // Orlando, Florida
Course Info	Par 72 // Yards: 6,349
Host	UCF
Live Scoring	Golfstatresults.com
SMU Notes	UCF Challenge
Facebook	SMUGolfW \| SMU Mustangs
Twitter	@SMUGolfW \| @SMUMustangs

DALLAS (SMU) -- The SMU women's golf team opens 2017 at the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 5-7. Play begins each day with an 8 a.m. CT shotgun start, and LIVE scoring can be found at golfstatresults.com.

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Representing The Mustangs: Senior Lindsey McCurdy, sophomore Brigitte Dunne and freshman Kenzie Wright will represent SMU for the sixth time this season after making the Mustang lineup for UCF. Senior Katie Page will make her fifth appearance, while freshman Ana Paula Ramirez joins the group for the fourth time. Freshman Faith Summers will also make the trip, competing as an individual.

Tournament Schedule:
Sunday, Feb. 5: Round One / 8 a.m. CT shotgun start / Paired with Mississippi State and No. 39 Auburn
Monday, Feb. 6: Round Two / 8 a.m. CT shotgun start
Tuesday, Feb. 7: Round Three / 8 a.m. CT shotgun start

The Field: There are 10 Golfstat top 50 teams, including the Mustangs, competing at the UCF Challenge. In addition to host UCF, the Mustangs will also see American Athletic Conference opponents East Carolina, Tulane and USF. SMU's first-round pairing includes Mississippi State and Auburn.

No. 10 Kent State	No. 14 Miami
No. 17 Texas	No. 20 UCF
No. 34 Wisconsin	No. 35 SMU
No. 39 Auburn	No. 40 Kentucky
No. 42 East Carolina	No. 50 Clemson
Iowa State	Old Dominion
Mississippi State	Tulane
UNC Wilmington	USF
Daytona State

Midseason Standouts: Lindsey McCurdy and Kenzie Wright were named to the Golfweek Midseason All-American Athletic Conference Team for their performances during the fall portion of the 2016-17 season.

McCurdy posted a pair of top-five finishes, earning runner-up honors at the Mustangs' weather-shortened Trinity Forest Invitational Nov. 7. To open the season, the senior tied for fifth in an 81-player field at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate hosted by Tennessee Sept. 12 & 13. In 13 rounds this season, McCurdy has posted rounds of par or better six times, which ties for a team-best. She also leads the team with a 71.62 scoring average, posting a season-low round of 68 in her first round of the season.

Wright is second on the team with a 72.54 scoring average and shares the team lead for rounds of par or better (6) with McCurdy. She leads the team with three of 13 rounds in the 60s including a team-low 66 this season, posted at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Overall, she has a pair of top-10 finishes, which includes a fourth-place finish at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 17 & 18.

Winter Winner: Brigitte Dunne became the second SMU women's golfer to win the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship held at the South Course of Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dunne did so just a year after freshman Kenzie Wright finished atop the field in 2015.

Dunne posted 12 birdies and an unblemished second round en route to the championship, finishing 6-under 210 (70-70-70). However, it would take a playoff hole to secure the victory as Arizona's Haley Moore (68-72-70) came back late for the tie. Moore finished tied for second at the 2016 NCAA Championship as a freshman. Dunne's impressive third round included four birdies on the front nine to open the day, before adding a pair after the turn. The third-round total of six birdies accounted for half of her total for the event.

Welcome To The Hilltop: SMU women's golf coach Jeanne Sutherland announced the addition of two student-athletes for the 2017-18 season, as Lauren Chappell and Sophia DiGesualdo have signed letters of intent to join the Mustangs.

Charleston High School's Chappell is the only female to win three individual Illinois State Championships, doing so in 2013, 2014 and 2016. She was also the 2016 Illinois Women's State Amateur Champion, and qualified for the 2016 US Junior Girls' Championship. In 2015 and 2016, Chappell was an AJGA Scholastic All-America honorable mention selection, posting seven top-10 finishes, including three in the top five.

Austin, Texas, native DiGesualdo helped Vandegrift High School to Texas State Championship appearances from 2014-2016, following Regional wins in 2015 and 2016 and District Championships each of the three seasons. DiGesualdo tied for ninth at the 2016 5A State Tournament, helping her team to a runner-up finish. During the 2015-16 season, she also posted medalist performances at the 2016 Regional Preview and District Tournament. Overall, DiGesualdo has 16 top-10 finishes for the Vipers and was an All-State, All-Region and All-District selection in 2016.

Leader Of The Pack: Head Women's Golf Coach Jeanne Sutherland was named the 2017 Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Founders Award recipient. Sutherland has served as both Vice President and Division I Representative of the WGCA during her coaching career. She also mentors young coaches and writes a blog about coaching and playing competitive golf, along with volunteering with Salvation Army, the Dallas Independent School District and the Dallas Ronald McDonald House.

She began her coaching career in 1992 at Texas A&M, and led the Aggies to 13 tournament crowns and three Big 12 Conference titles. Sutherland was named Conference Coach of the Year four times while at A&M (1995, 1997, 2006, 2007), as well as Regional Coach of the Year twice (1997, 2007). Since arriving at SMU in 2011, Sutherland has led the Mustangs to four consecutive postseason berths (2013-16) and two top-three finishes at the American Athletic Conference Championships. In her career, Sutherland has coached three All-Americans, six conference champions, three conference Players of the Year, three conference Newcomers of the Year, 32 all-conference selections and 25 All-American Scholars.

Trinity Forest: The New Home Of SMU Golf: Trinity Forest Golf Club becomes the new home course for SMU Golf. Trinity Forest will resemble many of the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain, featuring a links style course on a rolling meadow with tall native grasses and dramatic bunkering and green complexes. Once complete, Trinity Forest will become the new home of the PGA TOUR's AT&T Byron Nelson Championship as well as an NCAA invitational tournament and additional high-profile professional and amateur events.

The team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – Coore & Crenshaw, Inc. – is building both the championship golf course as well as the short course. The design of Trinity Forest will honor classic golf courses with traditional, strategic golf and great artistry as the guiding philosophy.

Located in the 6,000 acre Great Trinity Forest near the Trinity River Audubon Center about 10 minutes south of downtown Dallas, the 400 acre site will ultimately consist of an 18-hole championship golf course, a world-class practice facility, a clubhouse, a practice academy for SMU's golf teams and a teaching center for The First Tee of Greater Dallas.

In The Rankings: In the latest edition of the Golfstat rankings, the Mustangs rank 35th, following a 6th place finish at the Trinity Forest Invitational. SMU's highest ranking of the season came on Oct. 15 when the Ponies enjoyed their highest program ranking of No. 20 following a runner-up performance at the Mason Rudolph Championship Sept. 16-18.

Birdies On Birdies: Lindsey McCurdy finished the 2015-16 season with a team-leading 80 birdies, placing her 5th on the single season list. Freshman of the Year Brigitte Dunne came in at sixth with 79 a season ago. This season, Kenzie Wright leads the team with 44, while McCurdy has 42.

Making It Count: Lindsey McCurdy has played in all five of SMU's tournaments this season with all 13 of her rounds going toward the Mustangs' total score, while Kenzie Wright has opened her career with 12 of 13 scores counted.

Last Time Out: After overnight rain, Trinity Forest was deemed unplayable forcing the cancellation of the second, and final round, of the Trinity Forest Invitational Presented By Vic Salvino. Michigan finished atop the leaderboard in what turned into an 18-hole event, while Texas A&M's Bianca Fabrizio shot 1-under 71 for medalist honors. As a team, the Mustangs finished sixth with senior Lindsey McCurdy leading the way and finishing as the event runner-up after a one-round 1-over 73. For complete results click here.

Junior All-American: Kenzie Wright was one of three Dallas-area golfers to be named to the American Junior Golf Association Rolex Junior All-American team. The Frisco, Texas, native won the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship and earned her top 2016 AJGA finish at the Winn Gripps Heather Farr Classic, finishing tied for seventh. Wright has played in all three tournaments to open the 2016-17 season for the Mustangs. Her highest finish came at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 17 & 18 where she placed fourth. Wright also garnered a top-10 finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship, which included a 6-under 66 final round to place her in a three-way tie for eighth.

Four-Ball Qualifiers: Mustang sophomore Brigitte Dunne and recently graduated Alexandra Rossi finished atop the leaderboard at U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying held at the Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson, Texas. The pair led the 22-team field carding an unblemished 6-under 66 for the victory. The 2017 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball will take place May 27-31 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Conference Favorites: The Mustangs return a pair of All-American Athletic Conference selections from the 2015-16 season, including Freshman of the Year Brigitte Dunne and Lindsey McCurdy.

Dunne posted her best finish of the year placing fifth at The American Championship. She also posted a pair of top-10 finishes during the 2015-16 season finishing with a 74.41 average. McCurdy posted five top-10 finishes, including an event win at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. In 32 rounds, she posted 10 rounds of par or better and shot in the 60s on three occasions.

Mustangs In The Classroom: Katie Page was honored by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) as an All-American Scholar for the third consecutive year after achieving a cumulative grade-point-average above the required 3.50 following the 2015-16 school year. Page played in all 12 of the Mustangs' tournaments during the 2015-16 season, earning her best finish at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. Her second top 10 finish came in October at the Alamo Invitational. In 35 rounds last season, Page registered a 75.77 scoring average and posted a low round of 69 at the Clover Cup in March. The Louisville, Kentucky, native is majoring in business with a sport management minor.

All six Mustangs from the 2015-16 roster also earned All-American Athletic Conference academic honors for posting a 3.0 or better grade-point-average last year.