Hurricanes open spring schedule with 11th-place tie

Freshman Dewi Weber practices her swing at the Biltmore Golf Club. Weber finished a season-best 5th in the UCF Challenge in Orlando this past Tuesday. Photo Courtesy Thomas Symonds
Freshman Dewi Weber practices her swing at the Biltmore Golf Club. Weber finished a season-best 5th in the UCF Challenge in Orlando this past Tuesday. Photo Courtesy Thomas Symonds
Freshman Dewi Weber practices her swing at the Biltmore Golf Club. Weber finished a season-best 5th in the UCF Challenge in Orlando this past Tuesday. Photo Courtesy Thomas Symonds

The No. 29 Hurricanes finished tied for 11th place in the UCF Challenge held in Orlando from Feb. 7-9. The Canes competed with 17 other teams at the par 72, 6,349-yard Eagle Creek Golf Club in the team’s first event of the spring.

Miami finished the first round in 13th place with a team score of 310. Freshman Dewi Weber and senior Kailey Walsh led the Canes, both players birdying twice and recording a 77. Weber posted both of her birdies on the back nine while Walsh had one birdie on both the front and the back nine.

In her first tournament for the Canes, freshman Luiza Altmann played well, posting a score of 78 in the first round. Altmann did not play for the Canes in the fall, but she won six amateur tournaments before coming to Miami.

The Canes scored an impressive 296 in the second round, 14 shots better than their first round. The Canes’ two-round total of 606 placed them 13th heading into the third and final round of play.

Miami posted a team score of 303 in the third round to finish the tournament with a total of 909, 24 strokes behind first-place Houston. Weber led the team, moving up from 19th place when the final day started to a season-best fifth. She had a team-high seven birdies throughout the tournament. Junior Delfina Acosta also played well, posting three birdies in the third round.

Head Coach Patti Rizzo believes that the Canes will have a successful spring season with this group of golfers.

“I think we have a very strong team right now. It’s probably one of the strongest teams we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Rizzo said to HurricaneSports.com before the tournament. “I think we have a great chance to move up in the rankings throughout the spring.”

The Canes will be back in action on Feb. 21 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate in New Orleans.