Racers Runner-Up At Inaugural The Velvet Championship

Monday, September 18

Paducah, Ky.

Murray State

The Velvet

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

9/19/2023 3:04:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results (PDF)

The Racers took second in the team competition and Payton Carter finished second in the individual chase

The Murray State women's golf team fell short of their goal in winning the team and individual title Tuesday at Inaugural The Velvet Championship at the Country Club of Paducah, in Paducah, Kentucky.

The Velvet Championship honors Murray State coaching great Velvet Milkman who retired in 2022 after launching the program in 1993 and guiding it for 29 seasons.

Covering the challenging Paducah course in 54 holes, the Belmont Bruins nipped the Racers at wire with a two-shot win. The Racers carded rounds of 306-302-315=923.

MSU's Payton Carter carried a three-shot lead into the final round and posted a 78. Belmont's Chloe Tarkany tied Carter when she carded a 75 and won the ensuing playoff with a birdie on the par-5 No. 1 hole. Carter's score line was 73-75-78=226.

Emily Shimkus and Eliza Mae Kho gave the Racers three players in the top-10. Shimkus was fifth (78-73-78=229), while Kho placed ninth (76-78-78=232).

"It was not our best today," said MSU Coach Philip Nelson. "However, it was great to be in the hunt in the season opener. We identified some deficiencies and now we can go to work and fix them. We had two squads in this event and we have tremendous competition on this team and you saw that in how our second team pushed our first team with a fourth-place finish."

The Racers have an amazing fall yet to come for with appearances in the states of Colorado, Arkansas and Hawaii. MSU competes (Sept. 25-27) in Vail, Colorado at the Golfweek Invitational.

The Velvet
Sept. 18-19, 2023
Country Club of Paducah - Paducah, Ky.
Par 72/6,076 yards
Final Scores

Team
1 Belmont 312 298 311 921 +57
2 Murray State 306 302 315 923 +59
3 Northern Iowa 320 299 308 927 +63
4 Murray State 309 313 316 938 +74
5 Bellarmine 318 310 322 950 +86
6 Evansville 326 309 317 952 +88
7 Southern Illinois 309 333 313 955 +91
8 Southern Illinois 326 330 315 971 +107
9 Northern Kentucky 329 318 328 975 +111
10 Indiana Wesleyan 322 334 330 986 +122
11 Southern Indiana 333 327 353 1013 +149
12 Tennessee State 359 351 348 1058 +194

Player
2 Murray State 306 302 315 923
T1 Payton Carter (1) 73 75 78 226
T5 Emily Shimkus (2) 78 73 78 229
T9 Eliza Kho (3) 76 78 78 232
19 McKenna Stahl (4) 80 76 81 237
T20 Patti Patterson (5) 79 78 81 238

4 Murray State (B) 309 313 316 938
15 Kaitlyn Zieba (1) 81 77 76 234
T16 Ella Scherer (2) 76 78 81 235
T22 Lauren Gilchrist (4) 78 79 82 239
T22 Emma Payne (5) 74 79 86 239
32 Katherine Weir (3) 81 84 77 242