FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Old Dominion women's golf team claimed its first conference title in school history, capturing the 2017 Conference USA Championship crown Wednesday afternoon at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Florida. Individually, Maggie Simmermacher and Katerina Vlasinova achieved C-USA All-Tournament accolades with second and fifth-place finishes out of 55 golfers, respectively.
Guided by first-year head coach Mallory Hetzel, the Monarchs secured the league's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA DI Women's Golf Championships, which marks the first NCAA appearance by ODU women's golf in the program's 15-year history.
Entering Wednesday's final round, the second-place Monarchs trailed tournament leader Middle Tennessee by four strokes, but Old Dominion shot +1 on the final day of competition while the Blue Raiders were +13 on the afternoon.