ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's golf program has certainly enjoyed the Slammer & Squire Course in St. Augustine, Fla. over the years. Having skipped out on the World Golf Invitational a season ago after winning the event three times in a row from 2018-20, the Sharks picked up right where they left off in their return this week, earning a wire-to-wire, five-shot victory in their first tournament of the spring. NSU was paced by four Top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish by Hanna Ahlander.

INSIDE THE TOURNAMENT:
Tournament Finish: 1st of 21 Teams
Tournament Champion: Nova Southeastern
Location: Slammer & Squire | St. Augustine, Fla.
Par/Yardage: 72/6,049
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Entering the morning with a five-shot cushion, the Sharks eventually collected the win by that same margin, only it was Saint Leo rather than Rollins taking the runner-up spot.
• NSU shot a collective (-1) 287 in the final round, pairing the effort with its opening round of (+2) 290 for a 36-hole total of (+1) 577.
• Saint Leo finished at six-over as a team, while the rest of the field drifted, as third-place Rollins concluded the tournament well off the pace at 24-over par.
• Both Ahlander and Ellen Andersson held leads at one point or another throughout the final round. However, Saint Leo's Francesa Santoni made a late surge with birdies on No. 16 and No. 17 to capture individual medalist honors at three-under par overall.
• Despite a triple bogey on No. 11, Ahlander rebounded with birdies on four of the final six holes to turn in an even-par final round. The Swede finished one off the pace of Santoni at two-under for the tournament.
• Andersson had a bogey-free round of three-under through 12 holes until a bumpy finish forced her to settle for a share of third. Andersson recorded rounds of 72 and 71 for the tourney.
• Freshman Jimena Marques made a significant climb up the leaderboard Tuesday, rising from 34^th into sole possession of eighth following a final round of (-2) 70. At three-over for the week, Marques finished one shot better than cousin Sofia Garcia Austt, who grabbed a share of ninth following identical rounds of 74.
• Haruka Muta tied for 27^th with a 36-hole score of 10-over par.
• At seven-over, Nicola Fall claimed a 17^th-place tie after competing this week as an individual.

STATS OF THE DAY:

• The Sharks led the field in both Par-5 scoring average (5.03) and total birdies (32).
• NSU's Par-3 scoring average of 3.10 matched West Florida for the best mark among all 21 teams.
• Individually, Ahlander posted the field's top Par-4 scoring average (3.85), while Andersson registered the No. 1 Par-5 scoring average (4.63)
• Ahlander's 11 combined birdies were more than any other player.
• The average player score per round this week was 80.32. Of the six players to compete this week, the Sharks tallied just one combined round in the 80s.  

BEYOND THE SCORECARD:

• Tuesday marked the program's first tournament victory since Feb. 18, 2020.

UP NEXT:
NSU will head to Lakeland for the Lady Moc Classic, hosted by Florida Southern, from Feb. 21-22. For coverage throughout the tournament, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_WGolf.