No regrets as UTC women's golfers return home

photo UTC Mocs logo

No matter her mood, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf coach Colette Murray ends conversations with a simple word.

"Cheerio," she says.

It's always a pleasant goodbye.

Even after her team did not advance to the NCAA national women's golf tournament West Regional that one word, in her Scottish accent, is comforting to her players.

"I think we're doing the right things, we just need to execute better," Murray said shortly after she and her team landed at the airport in Atlanta, Ga., "It was a privilege for us to play in Washington.

The Mocs returned home Sunday after missing the number to qualify for the national championship. UTC finished in 17th place in a tournament where the top eight teams advance.

"We wanted to go to nationals," Murray said. "I thought we had the team to get there."

But they didn't.

UTC shot 83 over par and missed the cut by more than 30 strokes. The University of Southern California won the tournament at 12 over and the University of Washington was one stroke back.

UTC sophomore Emily McLennan finished in a tie for 68th place with a 236. She topped senior Jordan Britt -- who prepped at GPS and Signal Mountain -- by one stroke.

"We gave her flowers and we gave her hugs," Murray said of Britt. "I'm going to miss her."

Cheerio!

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

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