Georgia Southern claims weather shortened 2025 Valspar Augusta Invitational
Mary Miller (Georgia Southern Athletics Photo)
The Georgia Southern women’s golf team pulled away from UCF to secure a three-shot victory at the 2025 Valspar Augusta Invitational. The Eagles opened with a 290 in the first round, tying UCF, before edging ahead with a second-round 292. The UCF Knights followed their opening 290 with a 295 to finish at 9-over par.
Michigan State was the only other team in contention, finishing third after improving from a first-round 296 to a final-round 291 to finish at 11-over par. The tournament’s final round on Sunday was canceled due to inclement weather.
Georgia Southern dominated the individual leaderboard, with three golfers in the top five. Mary Miller finished second at 2-under with rounds of 70-72, while LoraLie Cowart shot 73-72 and Louise Reau shot 72-73 to finish T5. Natachanok Tunwannarux and Jiarui Chen rounded out the Eagles' lineup with top-20 finishes.
The champion Eagles led the field in par-4 scoring, tied UCF for the best par-5 performance, and totaled 28 birdies on their way to victory. Yale, which finished seventh out of 13 teams, topped the field in par-3 scoring. Third-place finisher Michigan State recorded a tournament-best 117 pars but managed only 19 birdies compared to the 28 made by Georgia Southern and UCF.
Texas Tech’s Klara Hurtova claimed individual medalist honors with rounds of 69-70, finishing at 5-under and three shots clear of Georgia Southern’s Mary Miller. Yale’s Mia Sessa with rounds of 74-69 and UCF’s Molly Smith with rounds of 71-72 tied for third at 1-under, while Michigan State’s Katie Lu and UCF’s Pimpisa Sisutham completed the top five at 1-over par.
Hurtova dominated the field with a tournament-best nine birdies and just four bogeys. Runner-up Mary Miller was bogey-free in round one before carding five bogeys, three birdies, and an eagle in round two. Sessa’s final-round 69 tied Hurtova and Michigan State’s Paula Balanzategui for the tournament’s low round, highlighted by five birdies and a double bogey on the par-4 eighth hole.
Georgia Southern will look to continue its strong play at the More Than Golf Invitational at Old Barnwell in Aiken, S.C., on March 28-30.
ABOUT THE
Valspar Augusta Invitational
54 hole team and individual women's college
tournament hosted by
Augusta State University. Team (best four scores out
of
five players each round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information