Mary-Michael Burns (left) and Nikki Stewart will be one of 53 teams competing in the tournament.
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Nikki Stewart and Mary-Michael Burns will team up to represent Savannah College of Art and Design at the inaugural Hooters Women’s Collegiate Team Championship, which is presented by the National Golf Coaches Association.
The 54-hole amateur championship is set to begin tomorrow (Aug. 3) at the Achasta Golf Course, a Jack Nicholas-signature golf course. The format for each round is different. Round one will be alternate shot while the second round will be best ball. The final round will be the aggregate score of the two players.
Fifty-three two-person teams will be competing comprised of top current women’s collegiate golfers. Each team will pair players from the same university in a stroke play event. Teams are comprised of players from all levels of collegiate golf including 41 NCAA Division I, six NCAA Division III and four Division II institutions. SCAD is the only NAIA school to be represented in the tournament.
Stewart, a 5-foot-6 rising junior from Aliso Viejo, Calif., tied the university record for low-18 hole score with a 71 in the final round of the NAIA National Championship in Rapid City, S.D., in May. Stewart finished in sixth place overall - the highest finish by a SCAD golfer at nationals - with a university-record 72-hole score of 307, slicing seven strokes off the previous record, as she became the fourth SCAD player to be named to the All-NAIA Tournament Team in the program’s history.
Stewart, who was named to All-The Sun Conference Team in 2010, had a 78.6 stroke average in 18 rounds this season. She had seven top-20 finishes in nine events during 2009-10, including five in the top 10. She also recorded wins in the Arizona Intercollegiate in February and followed it up by capturing the SCAD Spring Invitational a month later.
Burns, a 5-2 rising junior from Baton Rouge, La., transferred to SCAD from Louisiana State University in January and qualified for all but one tournament in the spring. Burns, who had an 86.2 scoring average in 13 rounds this season, helped the Bees to their seventh consecutive appearance at nationals and to five top 10 finishes during the spring season.
Play will begin each day at 8 a.m. with tee times starting from both the first and 10th tees.