Women’s golf: USC Beaufort ties for 8th at NAIA Championship; Knoetsch ties for 3rd

USC Beafort’s women’s golf team finished in a tie for eighth place at the NAIA Championship on Friday at Savannah Quarters Country Club in Pooler, Ga.

The tournament was shortened from four rounds to two because of rain throughout the week.

The Sand Sharks carded a 44-over-par 650.

Franzi Knoetsch led the squad with a 3-over 147, good for a tie for third place and a spot on the All-Tournament Team. She climbed from a tie for 12th after round one with a second-round 72.

Fellow Sun Conference school Keiser (Fla.) won the team title for the second-straight year by carding a 23-over 599, 11 strokes better than second-place William Woods University and Savannah College of Art and Design.

The Seahawks’ second-round 293 was the lowest round in the past five years of the tournament, and it gave them a second-straight title. Keiser was known as Northwood before this season.

Cumberlands University’s Kaitlyn Riley was the individual champion with a 4-under 140 (72-68), two strokes better than Elsa Westin (71-71), who led the way for Keiser. Westin was the runner-up for the second year in a row. Riley, whose 68 tied for the lowest round in the event’s history, and Westin were the only players under par for the tournament.

Other Sand Sharks golfers included Emily Turner (9 over, tied for 26th), Vanessa Schloo (15 over, tied for 57th), Paulina Sekerkova (26 over, tied for 104th) and Moa Kristenson (31 over, 117th).

This marked the first time in its 22-year history that NAIA Championship was shortened due to weather and the first time that a champion was crowned after 36 holes of play.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Women’s golf: USC Beaufort ties for 8th at NAIA Championship; Knoetsch ties for 3rd."