FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Old Dominion women's golf team claimed its first conference title in school history, capturing the 2017 Conference USA Championship crown Wednesday afternoon at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Florida. Individually, Maggie Simmermacher and Katerina Vlasinova achieved C-USA All-Tournament accolades with second and fifth-place finishes out of 55 golfers, respectively.
Guided by first-year head coach Mallory Hetzel, the Monarchs secured the league's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA DI Women's Golf Championships, which marks the first NCAA appearance by ODU women's golf in the program's 15-year history.
Entering Wednesday's final round, the second-place Monarchs trailed tournament leader Middle Tennessee by four strokes, but Old Dominion shot +1 on the final day of competition while the Blue Raiders were +13 on the afternoon. The Monarchs went on to win their first ever conference crown by eight strokes over MTSU.
Individually, three Monarch golfers cracked the top 10 in the final standings, as Maggie Simmermacher finished in a tie for runner-up, Katerina Vlasinova tied for fourth place and Charlotte De Corte tied for seventh.
Simmermacher, who achieved C-USA All-Tournament Team honors by placing in the top five after firing 68-73-74 (-1) for the tournament, finished behind only individual medalist Jenna Burris from Middle Tennessee and in a tie with Henriette Syr from Southern Miss.
Vlasinova, who also was recognized with C-USA All-Tournament Team honors, recorded a fifth-place finish, firing 76-69-74 (+3) and tying with Sydney Snodgrass from UAB and Elena Kim from North Texas.
De Corte bounced back from an 8-over second round to shoot a 4-under 68 in the final round, helping the Monarchs secure the team title as well as landing herself a top-10 finish. She also finished the tournament with the best par five average (4.75).
Sana Tufail and Rachel Walker finished in 24th and 46th for the conference champion Monarchs, respectively.
Complete stats from the 2017 C-USA Championships are available via Golfstat. For more information and recaps, view the C-USA Championship Tournament Central page here.
With the conference title, the 2017 C-USA champion Old Dominion Monarchs earned the league's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA DI Women's Golf Championships. ODU's placement in the first round at the national championship will be announced via the NCAA Selection Show, slated for April 27 at 11 a.m. on the Golf Channel. All live selection shows will also be found on the NCAA.com homepage and the NCAA.com live schedule page.
2017 C-USA Women's Golf Championships
Verandah Club (Old Orange) -- Fort Myers, Fla.
April 17-19, 2017
Par: 72 Yardage: 6194
ODU Results -- Final
T2. Maggie Simmermacher 68-73-74 (-1)
T4. Katerina Vlasinova 76-69-74 (+3)
T7. Charlotte De Corte 72-80-68 (+4)
T24. Sana Tufail 73-80-73 (+10)
T46. Rachel Walker 78-76-84 (+22)
Team Leaderboard -- Final
1. Old Dominion (+12)
2. Middle Tennessee (+20)
3. UTSA (+25)
4. FIU (+30)
5. Southern Miss (+32)
6. WKU (+43)
7. UAB (+43)
8. UTEP (+45)
9. Marshall (+52)
10. North Texas (+60)
11. FAU (+64)
2017 C-USA All-Tournament Team
Jenna Burris (MTSU)
Henriette Syr (Southern Miss)
Maggie Simmermacher (ODU)
Sydney Snodgrass (UAB)
Katerina Vlasinova (ODU)
Elena Kim (North Texas)