MIAMI (April 1, 2017) -- FIU hits the course for its final regular-season golf tournament of the year, heading to the Sixth-Annual Web.com Intercollegiate to take place just outside of Jacksonville, Florida. The two-day tournament will feature a two-round, 36-hole first day Monday and finish with an 18-hole final round on Tuesday. The tournament will be contested at the Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, set up for par-72, 5,967-yard layout. The Panthers are paired with Chattanooga and No 45 Campbell and will go off from the first three holes at 8:30 a.m. in the shotgun-start format.
Jacksonville is the host for this final event before the Conference USA Championships, and joining the Dolphins Panthers, Chattanooga and Campbell will be Central Arkansas, Charleston Southern, Cincinnati, Columbia, Daytona State, Delaware, East Tennessee State, Georgia State, James Madison, Memphis, North Florida, North Texas, Sam Houston State, South Florida and Texas State.
The Panthers played in this event in 2013 and 2014, finishing as high as sixth four years ago. Only FIU's senior golfers,
Camila Serrano (Bogota, Colombia) and
Coralia Arias (Quito, Ecuador) have played in this event. Serrano was FIU's top finisher in 2014, shooting a 3-over 219 (75-72-72) to land in a tie for 21
st in the event.
Serrano leads FIU with a 72.43 stroke average. She has finished in the top 10 in five of the eight tournaments in which the Panthers have played this season, including three finishes in the top five. Her season average is two full strokes better than her career average (74.56) as she approaches 100 rounds of collegiate golf. Her season record is 527-76 this season, and the team mark is 66-33.
Katerina Krasova (Ricany, Czech Republic) has improved her stroke average by nearly four strokes from last season to this junior campaign. She finished eighth in her first tournament of the season, and has a season record of 335-253, posting a 75.52 stroke average in all 23 FIU rounds of golf season to date.
Arias is nearly two strokes better this year than last, shooting right around her career average of 76.11 in 22 rounds for FIU. One of the team's best in the classroom, Arias noted the finality of her college career and the importance of remaining focused into this last event to use as a springboard for the conference tournament in two weeks.
The team carries a pair of freshmen in the lineup, with
Carolina Rotzinger (Puebla, Mexico) and
Diana Velez (Dorado, Puerto Rico) competing for the Panthers. They are shooting an average of just over 76 and 77 strokes per round, on average through 23 competition rounds this season, and have competed in every tournament for the team.
"Since the fall, Cami and I have talked about what leading is about," said Arias. "We have two freshmen who need our guidance and course knowledge and Kate be a big help there too. It is also scary to be here in the United States on your own from another country. We already went through that and want to help the freshmen to know they have a family to come to for support here. As far as golf, our main goal is to win conference and we are going to do everything we can to make that happen. We did not play well last year and did not meet our expectations. We are very united this year and these are my last two tournaments and I feel like I am more focused and positive on the course. We want to end the season the right way."
Live stats links are posted at FIUSports.com.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
