Women's golf wins first tourney since ’02

The UCF women's golf team won the Hurricane Invitational in Miami on Tuesday, the team's first victory since the 2002 UCF Invitational.

A pair of top-10 freshman finishers in Carolin Pinegger and Valentina Fontaine helped seal it for the Knights after entering the final round in a tie for third.  Pinegger shot a season low three-under-par 69 to finish in three-way tie for seventh that also included Fontaine at seven-over-par 223.  Pinegger's 69 was two strokes better than any other golfer in the field of 90 on Tuesday.

For Fontaine, it was just more of the same as her even-par 72 on Monday was her fifth round of par or better in just 12 collegiate rounds and her seventh place finish was her third top 10 in five events.

Junior Katie Detlefsen also had a strong tournament as she posted her second top-20 finish of the year.

The team had to fight back from being in ninth place after the opening round, 15 strokes off of the pace.  First year head coach Courtney Trimble said the win was a total team effort.

 "I was disappointed after the first day when we were 15 strokes back, but we knew that if we played the way that we are capable of playing that we would be able to move back up to the top, and we did just that," Trimble said. "I am very proud of them, and excited to see them earn this win as a team."

UCF's total score of 30-over-par 894, the second-best tournament score in UCF history, won the tournament by one stroke over Georgia State, who led the tournament going into the final round.

The Knights hope to repeat as their next tournament will be their own.  The team hosts the UCF Challenge at the RedTail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla. March 1-2.