Hattiesburg, Miss. – The Stetson University women's golf team completed play in the University of Southern Mississippi's Lady Eagle Classic on Tuesday, finishing third in the 11-team event.
Junior Kristine Odaiyar had her best finish of the spring, earning a third place finish on the very difficult Hattiesburg Country Club course.
“After seeing the course during the practice round I had my doubts as to whether any of the teams would be able to break 300 in a round,” Hatters coach Floyd Kerr said. “The hole placements were very difficult to reach and the greens were hard to read. There just weren't any birdie holes out there.”
Kerr's prediction almost came true. Only Barry University, which won the event by 15 shots over the host team from Southern Miss, was able to break 300, posting a 299 in the final round on Tuesday. The Hatters finished two shots behind USM in third place after rounds of 303, 311 and 308.
Odaiyar posted scores of 74, 76 and 75 to finish at nine-over par 225 for the tournament. She finished six shots behind Barry's duo of Tilda Larsson and Maria Paola Florio, who tied for medalist honors with three-over par scores of 219.
“I thought Kristine played some of her best golf in this tournament,” Kerr said. “Her ball striking was much improved and she didn't make any major mistakes to cost herself several strokes.”
Sophomores Carolin Schart, Paige Kemp and Eilidh Watson had some success during play. Schart tied for 12th overall with a 16-over par score of 232. She had rounds of 77, 79 and 76. Kemp (75-78-80=233) was one shot further back, tied for 15th while Watson (80-80-77=237) finished tied for 29th.
Junior Giulia Vandenberg had perhaps the most difficult tournament of her Stetson career. She made it through the first two rounds with scores of 77 and 78, but finished with an 85 to tie for 38th.
“Giulia just never got comfortable out there,” Kerr said. “She had a double bogey early in the first round and never recovered and just struggled throughout the event. She will bounce back, but it was a tough event for her.”
The Hatters will have a little time off from competition before returning to action March 19-23 at the Morehead State Spring Invitational at Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento.
