Women's Golf | 10/14/2018 7:30:00 PM
SANDESTIN, Fla. Methodist's 12th-ranked women's golf team sits in second place, two strokes back of leader Berry College, after the opening round of the three-day 2018 Golfweek D-III Fall Invite.
The Monarchs also sit in second on the individual leaderboard with
Jillian Drinkard's 1-over par 73 sitting one stroke out of the top spot.
JUST THE FACTS
Event: Golfweek D-III Fall Invite
Location: Baytowne Golf Club (5,804 yards, par 72); Sandestin, Florida
Team leaders: 1 – Berry College (311, 23-over par); 2 – Methodist (313, +25); 3 – Ill. Wesleyan (314, +26)
Individual leaders: 1 – Olivia Robinson, Mary Hardin-Baylor (36-36—72, E), T2 –
Jillian Drinkard, Methodist (36-37—73, +1), T2 – Karley Hammond, Berry (36-37—73, +1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Drinkard continues to put together even-handed rounds. Sunday at Baytowne she birdied her opening hole, parred Nos. 2 through 5, picked up a stroke at the sixth, but reeled off three more pars before making the turn. On the back nine she birdied the 15th, parred six holes and added bogeys at Nos. 11 and 17 to hover at the top of the leaderboard all day.
- Also playing into the top five from Methodist was Morgan Bowen (37-38—75, +3). Bowen birdied Nos. 2 and 15, collected 11 pars and bogeyed four others to finish the day tied for fifth place.
- Paige Church (41-40—81, +9) didn't start the round the way any golfer would hope to, with a quad, but she quickly settled, jotting down pars on her scorecard the next two hole. Birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 helped settle the front nine. Six more pars on the back helped offset a pair of bogeys and a double on the 15th, allowing Church to finish the afternoon in a tie for 32nd place.
- Peyton Durham (42-42—84, +12) and Sarah Sontowski (41-45—86, +14) had their ups and downs during their rounds. Durham did roll in 10 par putts and sits in a tie for 53rd, while Sontowski parred seven holes and birdied the fourth, ending the round tied for 66th.
INVITE NOTES
- The 18-team field at the Invite includes 11 teams ranked in the most recent Women's Golf Coaches Association poll. Top-ranked Washington (Mo.) University, No. 6 Rhodes College and No. 10 Berry from the top 10 are playing at Baytowne. Methodist, No. 16 Carnegie Mellon University, No. 17 Sewanee: University of the South, No. 21 Birmingham Southern College, No. 22 Wittenberg University, No. 23 Mary Hardin-Baylor, No. 24 Huntingdon College and No. 25 Illinois Wesleyan are the other ranked squads.
- Four teams, Centre College, Oglethorpe University, Southwestern University and Wisconsin-Whitewater each received votes in the poll.
- Defending Fall Invite champion WashU is tied for eighth place at 34-over par after Sunday's opening round.
NEXT UP
Round two begins Monday morning followed by the concluding round on Tuesday.
