Kiawah Island, S.C. - JC Stevenson captured the first collegiate tournament title of her career to lead the Nebraska women's golf team to a runner-up finish in the 20-team Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational on Tuesday.
Stevenson, a sophomore from Grand Island, Neb., knocked in a birdie putt on her final hole to defeat Kansas State's Michelle Regan by one stroke in the final individual standings. Stevenson's final shot capped a two-under-par final round 70 to complete an even-par 54-hole score of 216. Regan finished one shot back at 217, while East Carolina's Amber Littman took third at 220.
Stevenson's final-round 70 matched her career-best score, which she set earlier in the day by sinking a birdie putt on her final hole of the second round. Prior to Tuesday's performance on the 5,933-yard layout at the Oak Point Golf Club, Stevenson had never broken par in a collegiate round.
"I had been telling people I was cursed because I had shot 72 so many times, but I could never break par," Stevenson said. "I think once I broke through that mental barrier then I was able to just relax and go out and play, and know that I could do it again. It is a great feeling to win this tournament. I had no idea that I needed to sink that last putt to win. I didn't even know where I was on the leaderboard. I just knew I needed to birdie the hole to help the team."
Stevenson said her short game set the tone for her tournament victory in the 104-player field that included players from four top-40 teams in the GolfStat computer rankings.
"My short game was awesome throughout the tournament, but in the first round I missed some putts," Stevenson said. "In the second round, I chipped one in for birdie and I kept putting it close to the hole to give myself some easy taps for par or birdie. I did have to make a few long putts, but I just kept the game really simple out there. It was a lot of fun."
With Stevenson leading Nebraska's charge on the final day, the Huskers sizzled for the tournament's best round with a 294 on the final 18 holes. The Huskers entered Tuesday's action in a tie for fourth place, 13 strokes behind the leaders from East Carolina after play was suspended midway through the second round by darkness. NU threatened the lead of the tournament champions from ECU right down to wire, picking up nine strokes in the final round.
It was not enough to reel in the Pirates, who won the tournament title with a three-round score of 906, but the Huskers finished just three shots back at 909. Nebraska was the only team to keep ECU in its sites, as the Huskers finished 16 strokes ahead of third-place Kansas State.
"You have to give East Carolina credit because they are a top-25 caliber team and they played some great golf in all three rounds," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "But I know we had them looking over their shoulders a little bit today, because we were playing really well and we took it all the way down to the last couple holes."
In addition to the strong showing by Stevenson, seniors Allison Stewart and Elli Brown added top-20 individual finishes for the Huskers. Stewart capped a solid fall campaign with a final-round 71 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 14th place at 229. Stewart finished one shot ahead of Brown, who produced steady rounds of 78-74-78 in the tournament to finish at 230.
Stewart closed the fall campaign with her fourth top-15 finish, including a tournament title at the Bronco Invitational in Kuna, Idaho. Brown added her fifth top-20 performance of the fall.
Sophomore Charlotte Wendner added a strong final round for the Huskers by firing a three-over-par 75 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 47th at 238 in the 104-player field. Mary Kate Bird, playing in NU's lineup for the first time in her career, concluded a solid debut in a tie for 55th after producing a pair of 78s in the final two rounds for the Huskers to finish at 239.
Krapfl said Nebraska's strong performances in winning the Bronco Fall Invitational and finishing second in South Carolina were good ways to wrap up the fall season.
"We started so slow this fall and we really had to battle ourselves to start believing in our games again," Krapfl said. "You could see it out on the course the last two days that we're starting to click, and we are starting to believe that we have the potential to be a really good team. Hopefully that mentality will carry over into the start of the spring season in February."
Nebraska will take a three-month break from competition before resuming the 2007-08 season at the Central District Invitational Feb. 18-19 in Parrish, Fla.