Daytona Beach, Fla. ? The Stetson women's golf team used a pair of two over par 74s from junior Danielle Jackson (Seminole, Fla.) and freshman Lauren Cate (Jacksonville, Fla.) to solidify its standing on the final day of the Xavier Invitational at LPGA International on Sunday. The Hatters placed sixth out of 15 teams at +56 overall and junior Lauren Darnell (Gainesville, Ga.) tied for eighth individually at +9.
Darnell shot her second consecutive 76 in the final round to finish in a four-way tie for eighth, 10 strokes behind individual champion Therese Nilsson of Lamar University. Darnell has now finished in the top 10 in all three of her fall tournaments.
Jackson improved her score in each round from 78 to 77 to 74 and tied for 22nd place at 13 over par for 54 holes while Cate used her best round of the tournament to surge into the top 30, finishing +16 in a tie for 28th. Senior Christine Fraser (Kingston, Ont.) tied for 41st at +22 after a final round 82. Sophomore Alex Banham (Birmingham, England) carded her best score of the weekend, a 79, in today's final round to tie for 54th place at +28. In all, 76 players completed the tournament.
Yale placed three players in the top 20 and won the team championship at +38 by a single stroke over Florida Atlantic with Eastern Michigan taking third with a +41 score. Lamar (+48) and hometown squad Bethune-Cookman (+52) also placed ahead of the Hatters, who outpaced Daytona State (+59), Barry (+60), Georgetown (+62), Charleston Southerrn (+68), Western Michigan (+79), Eastern Kentucky (+97), A-Sun foe Mercer (+100), host Xavier (+102) and Bowling Green (+112).
Stetson returns to the links October 26-28 for the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational at Pelican Preserve Golf Club in Fort Myers. Following that tournament, the fall season will conclude November 2-4 at Victoria Hills Country Club when Head Coach Floyd Kerr and the team attempt to defend their title at the Hatter Fall Classic.
