Virginia Lane pulled away in the final five holes to capture the individual title and help nationally 49th-ranked Mount Olive win the women's golf team title in the Mount Olive College Spring Invitational at Walnut Creek Country Club in Goldsboro, N.C. Emelie Andersson finished third and Julie Loennechen was fourth out of 30 golfers.
Mount Olive led by 23 shots after the first round and won by 42 strokes with a 317-319—636. Limestone was second with a 678, Coker finished third with a 686 and Barton was fourth with a 709.
Lane, a freshman from Winton, N.C., was tied with Barton's Brittany Zine with a 75 after Monday's first round. The two played in the final group and started on the 10th hole. Lane quickly fell behind by two shots when she bogeyed and Zine birdied the par-5 11th.
"There was no panic," said Lane. "I knew there was still plenty of time and I told myself to just keep my cool."
Lane made up the deficit on the next hole when she made par and Zine double bogeyed. The two remain tied until Lane took a one-shot lead with a birdie on the par-5 17th.
The pair started the back nine on the par-5 first hole and Lane's bogey allowed Zine to move back into a tie. Lane regained the lead when she parred the par-3 third hole and dropped back into a tie with a bogey on four. Lane took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole.
"I just buckled down and told myself I have four holes left," said Lane. "Just get some birdies. One hole at a time."
Lane added two shots to her lead on the par-4 seventh hole when she birdied and Zine bogeyed.
"I kind of felt it after that," said Lane.
Lane finished with a 76 on the day for a 36-hole score of 151, two shots ahead of Zine at 153. The two were almost caught by Andersson, who finished with a 76-78—154. Loennechen carded an 83-80—163, while Stefany King (83-88—171) finished 12th, Emy Ohling (87-85—172) tied for 13th and Sarah Baniszewski (93-97—190) was 21st.
This week's tournament is the Trojans' regular season finale. Mount Olive competes in the 2013 Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Tournament April 20-22 at Burlington, N.C.
Team Leaderboard
1 Mount Olive 317 319 636
2 Limestone 340 338 678
3 Coker 349 337 686
4 Barton 354 355 709
Individual Leaderboard (Top 20)
1 Virginia Lane Mount Olive 75 76 151
2 Brittney Zine Barton 75 78 153
3 Emelie Andersson Mount Olive 76 78 154
4 Julie Loennechen Mount Olive 83 80 163
5 Megan Katsch Lenoir-Rhyne 85 79 164
(tie) Kennedy Smith Johnston CC 79 85 164
(tie) Maria Tirado Barton 82 82 164
8 Hannah Luckett Limestone 83 82 165
9 Taylor McInnis Limestone 85 83 168
(tie) Taylor Demby Coker 84 84 168
11 Mallory Thompkins Coker 87 82 169
12 Stefany King Mount Olive 83 88 171
13 Krista Thorpe Coker 85 87 172
(tie) Emy Ohling Mount Olive 87 85 172
15 Meghan Burke Limestone 85 89 174
(tie) Brandi Peter Limestone 88 86 174
(tie) Shelby Wolff Limestone 87 87 174
18 Elizabeth Ewing Lenoir-Rhyne 89 88 177
(tie) Sara Allen Coker 93 84 177
20 Molly Rowell Wake Tech 98 85 183