Women's Golf | 10/15/2018 6:28:00 PM
SANDESTIN, Fla. Monday's second round of the Golfweek D-III Fall Invite proved challenging for Methodist's 12th-ranked women's golf team as the Monarchs slipped from second to fifth place on the three-day event's team leaderboard.
Eleven teams ranked within the most recent Women's Golf Coaches Association poll are competing at the Baytowne Golf Club in the 18-team field.
JUST THE FACTS
Event: Golfweek D-III Fall Invite
Location: Baytowne Golf Club (5,804 yards, par 72); Sandestin, Florida
Team leaders: 1 – Rhodes College (317-300—617, 41-over par); 2 – Carnegie Mellon University (319-310—629, 53); 3 – Berry College (311-319—630, 54)
Methodist: 5 – 313-323—636, 60
Individual leaders: 1 – Hammond, Berry College (73-75—148, 4); 2 – Erica Whitehouse, Christopher Newport University (75-75—150, 6); Four players tied for third at 151 ( 7)
Methodist leader: T10 –
Jillian Drinkard (73-81—154, 10)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Through four holes Monday the Monarchs were just 4-over par for the round, including both Drinkard and Paige Church playing at even par.
- Church birdied the fifth and Drinkard drained a par putt, but each of Methodist's other three golfers added one stroke on the par-5 hole.
- Church (81-79—160, 16) would finish her front nine at 2-over and would return home at 5-over for a 7-over 79, climbing up the leaderboard from 32nd into a tie for 28th.
- Drinkard collected 11 pars in her round and rolled in a birdie putt at No. 15, but a pair of bogeys and four doubles pushed her back from the top of the leaderboard -- she started the day tied for second -- into a 10th-place tie.
- Morgan Bowen (75-84—159, 15) played a beautiful round on Sunday, cracking the top five on the individual leaderboard, but after birdieing the opening hole Monday she struggled to a 12-over round, slipping out of the top 10 into a tie for 28th place.
- Both Peyton Durham (84-80—164, 20) and Sarah Sontowski (86-83—169, 25) trimmed strokes from Sunday's scorecards, and both moved up on the leaderboard heading into the final day. Durham will begin her third round tied for 44th, improving nine spots from Sunday, while Sontowski moved up from 67th into a tie for 64th.
INVITE NOTES
- Invite leader Rhodes is ranked sixth in the WGCA poll, Carnegie Mellon is 16th, and Berry is 10th.
- Defending Fall Invite champion and top-ranked Washington (Mo.) University improved to sixth place after Monday's round.
- Oglethorpe (Ga.) University is the highest unranked team at the Invite, sitting in eighth place on the leaderboard.
NEXT UP
Tuesday's third round will be Methodist's final round of the fall season. The Monarchs are scheduled to play in the Calloway (Ga.) Gardens Collegiate Invitational on March 1-2 to kick off the spring schedule.
