Brooke Matthews shatters scoring record at Cougar Classic

14 Sep 2021
by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for Cougar Classic, Yeamans Hall Club, Brooke Matthews Rankings
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Courtesy of Arkansas Athletics

The Arkansas women's golf team started their season on a high note, winning the Cougar Classic held at Yemans Hall Golf Club in Charleston, South Carolina by one stroke over 12th-ranked Baylor.

But that's only part of the story.

Rarely does the performance by the medalist upstage a team victory, but Razorback head coach Shauna Taylor will happily nudge Brooke Matthews into the spotlight after her record-breaking performance at the par-72, 6,301-yard Yemans Hall Golf Club.

Matthews was the story of the tournament, winning the individual championship with a 25-under score of 191 on rounds of 63-64-64 for a 13-stroke victory over North Carolina's Krista Junkkari.

Matthews' 25-under score broke the NCAA record for a 54-hole event, previously held by Jaclyn Lee of Ohio State in 2018 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational (-19) and also shattered Arkansas' 54-hole program record, which was set by Maria Fassi (-16) during the 2017-18 season at the Mason Rudolph Challenge.

The senior from Fort Rogers, Ark., who advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Women's Amateur, recorded 26 birdies and an eagle to win her third collegiate event (2019 Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic; 2020 Blessings Collegiate Invitational). She played the par 4s in 15-under par.

“That’s crazy,” Matthews told WholeHogSports.com. “I mean, wow, that’s not something I really even had on my radar, to be honest, like ever.

“When we came off the course and they were doing the trophy presentation when they said it [was an NCAA record], I was like ‘Oh my gosh,” and it seemed like a big deal.”

Junior Julia Gregg also recorded a top-10 finish, placing sixth with a career best 6-under score of 210.

Arkansas needed every stroke it got from Matthews and Gregg to hold off a hard-charging Baylor squad, which shot a final round 14-under 274 to draw within a shot of the Razorbacks. Both schools shot past 36-hole leader Georgia, which stumbled down to fourth place after carding a 4-over round of 292 on Tuesday.

Results: Cougar Classic