Pawley's Island, SC – Stetson junior Giulia Vandenberg only hoped to rescue her final round at the season-opening GolfWeek Program Challenge on Tuesday at the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club.
She entered the final round of the tournament in fourth place but a double bogey on the second hole on Tuesday quickly put that standing in jeopardy. When she followed up with bogeys on the fourth and sixth holes, she turned her focus to avoiding a complete collapse.
“Giulia got off to a really bad start today, but she battled through it,” Hatters coach Floyd Kerr said. “Once she got back on track, she was the same Giulia we saw in the first two rounds.”
A birdie on the seventh hole ended the bad run and started Vandenberg on a run of seven consecutive pars. Birdies on the 15th and 16th holes got her back to within one of par for the day, which is where she finished after carding pars on the final two holes.
That was enough to move her past Morehead State's Anna Magnusson, who was even par through 12 holes before a triple bogey on 13 started her into a spiral to the finish. She added bogeys on 16 and 17 before closing with a double bogey to go from leading the tournament to fourth place.
Vandenberg's final score of 212 tied for the second lowest three-round tournament score in school history. Only Alexandria Buelow's 210 at the 2012 MSU Ocala Spring Invitational was better than Vandenberg's performance this week.
Campbell's Nadine White took advantage with a one-under par 70 in the final round to edge Gardner-Webb's Taylor Dodson by one shot (207-208) for the tournament's individual title. Vandenberg finished five shots off the lead in third with Magnusson one shot further back in fourth.
Campbell, which came into the event ranked 45th in the nation, bounced back from an opening round score of 294 with rounds of 287 and 288 to pull away for the team victory. The Camels (869) finished with a 12-shot lead over Old Dominion (881) with Elon (882), Morehead State (887) and Gardner-Webb (893) rounding out the top five.
Stetson finished seventh in the 18-team event after posting a 298 in the final round for an overall score of 898.
“We came in with a goal of finishing in the top five, and we didn't get there,” Kerr said. “Despite that, I am real pleased with the first tournament. We have three weeks to get ready for Marsh Landing and, hopefully, we will go up there and get better.”
Sophomore Eilidh Watson made the biggest move for the Hatters in the final round, posting a two-over par round of 73 to finish tied for 23rd in the tournament. She was two-under par at the turn but fatigue set in down the stretch as she bogeyed five of the last seven holes, with a birdie mixed in. She finished with a three round score of 226.
“Eilidh had a good tournament, even through she struggled a little at the finish,” Kerr said. “She was 12 shots better in this tournament than she was here last year, which is a great sign.”
Junior Kristine Odaiyar finished with a 77 in the final round. Her 227 tied for 30th overall. Sophomore Carolin Schart finished with a 76 on Tuesday to tie for 54th at 235. Sophomore Paige Kemp closed with a 79 to finish tied for 68th at 241.
The Hatters now have three weeks to work out the kinks from the first event before heading up I-95 to play in the Jacksonville Classic at Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach. The Dolphins finished 10 shots behind Stetson in ninth place at the GolfWeek Tournament. The Jacksonville Classic is scheduled for September 28-29.
