Blackman Finishes Career with Best Conference Result by Lady Topper in 20 Years

Wednesday, April 18

Fort Myers, Fla.

Western Kentucky University

Hosted by C-USA

Blackman Finishes Career with Best Conference Result by Lady Topper in 20 Years

4/18/2018 3:39:00 PM | Women's Golf

FORT MYERS, Fla. — WKU senior golfer Georgina Blackman turned in the highest conference finish by a Lady Topper in 20 seasons on Wednesday, finishing fourth at the Conference USA Championship with a record-low score.

Blackman shot a 2-over 74 in Wednesday's final round for a 3-over, three-day total of 219, the lowest conference tournament score by an individual in program history. The senior broke her own record of 220 from last year in her senior send-off at the par-72, 6,194-yard Verandah Club.

Blackman's fourth-place finish is the best in a conference tournament by a Lady Topper since Beth Blevins tied for second in the 1998 Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Blackman was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts.

"Before the tournament I said that I wanted to get a top-five finish, so to finish in fourth place was really good for me," Blackman said. "I love the course so I knew going into the tournament that I had a good chance of playing well. I played really solidly all week and it was nice to get the putter going in the first round. Overall, I'm really pleased with my performance and happy to finish my senior year and college golf with my best result at conference."

Blackman tied for seventh at last year's C-USA Championship. The Lady Toppers have had an individual finish in the top 10 in their conference tournament in each of the last three seasons after previously not doing so since 2007.

The Essex, England, native Blackman finished in the top 20 in 32 of 43 tournaments across her career, including 8 of 10 this season. She had five top-five results this season and 14 in her career.

WKU finished seventh as a team with a total of 908 (302-303-303). UTSA won the team title with an 874 finish.

Lady Topper freshman Megan Clarke registered the best result of her young career in her first conference tournament, tying for 11th with a total of 223 (76-71-76).

Sophomore Mary Joiner also finished in the top 20, tying for 17th at 224 (75-75-74).

Sophomore Bailey Tyree (82-82-79) and senior Katie Story (83-81-79) each finished at 243.

The Lady Toppers finished the season with seven top-five team performances in 11 events, including six straight – and the first five of the spring – leading into the C-USA championship.

WKU also won the title at its own Spring Break Shootout in March. That was the program's fifth team championship in head coach Adam Gary's four seasons at the helm. Gary's five titles are the second-most for a Lady Topper coach, and he's the second coach in program history to win a tournament in each of his/her first four seasons with the reins.

Individually, the Lady Toppers tallied 29 top-20 finishes this year, as well as 17 top-10s and two individual victories by Joiner.

"I'm very proud of Georgina ending her career by making the all-tournament team," Gary said. "The team had a great season and broke a lot of scoring records, including what I believe is the lowest team stroke average in program history. Mary also had one of the best seasons in school history. I'm even more proud of the work they've done the classroom. They've been working hard to get it done on the course and in the classroom."

2018 Conference USA Championship Final Results

4. Georgina Blackman (69-76-74-219)
T11. Megan Clarke (76-71-76-223)
T17. Mary Joiner (75-75-74-224)
T56. Bailey Tyree (82-82-79-243)
T56. Katie Story (83-81-79-243)