Sorrento, Fla. – After getting off to a good start on Sunday in the opening round of the Morehead State Spring Citrus Challenge at the RedTail Golf Club, the Stetson women's golf team struggled with cooler temperatures and long delays in play over the final two rounds, finishing 11th in the 20-team event.
“The second round was not the best day for the Hatters,” Stetson coach Floyd Kerr said. “There were good shots and bad shots, but it was a different golf course from the first round. It was chilly, windy and play was very slow. It was the longest 18-hole round I have ever seen.”
With 20 teams in the field, as well as another 18 individual players, play got bogged down, forcing players to wait more than an hour before making the turn.
“Our round last six hours and 25 minutes, and we had to wait an hour at the turn,” Kerr said. “Of course, everyone else had the same problem, but we went to the 10th hole and made bogey, bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey, triple-bogey. We had been playing pretty good up until that hole. Other people struggled with that hole, but I think we struggled with it more than most.
“That hole took the wind out of our sails. We regrouped a little and were starting to play a little better, but then had to wait a long time again at 18 and played that hole at seven-over par. We were 15 or 16 over par on those two holes, but played pretty well other than that.”
Stetson finished the second round with a 27-over par score of 315, falling from eighth place to 11th. A 309 in the final round left the Hatters in 11th place in the tournament.
A trio of teams handled the changing conditions and long rounds in different ways to finish tied for first place. Western Kentucky posted scores of 294, 308 and 297 to finish at 899. Elon had rounds of 294, 303 and 302 while James Madison had rounds of 300, 297 and 302.
Jacksonville State, which blistered the course with a 292 in the first round, also struggled over the last two days, dropping into a tie for sixth place in the final standings.
Individually, Elon's Kelsey Badmaev played steady throughout the tournament, and finished with a two-under par score of 214 to edge Jacksonville's State's Valentina Giraldo who opened with a 65, but then had a second round score of 78, by one shot.
Stetson sophomore Carolin Schart was the top finisher for the Hatters, just missing out on a top 10 by posting scores of 73-75-74 for a six-over par 222, tied for 11th.
Junior Kristine Odaiyar finished tied for 33rd with a score of 230. Sophomore Paige Kemp tied for 50th with a score of 233 while junior Giulia Vandenberg finished tied for 81st with a score of 240. Sophomore Eilidh Watson finished 100th in the field with a score of 246.
The Hatters will play their final tune-up event before the Atlantic Sun Championship Tournament April 3-4 in the Mimosa Invitational, hosted by Appalachian State University, in Morganton, NC.
