Women's Golf | 3/16/2019 8:22:00 PM
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. Day 2 of the 16th Annual Women's Collegiate Invitational is in the books, and Methodist's 13th-ranked women's golf team retained its third-place spot on the team leaderboard, while Monarch
Morgan Bowen played the day to within two shots of the leader.
Eight teams ranked in the most recent Golfstat.com Division III women's relative rankings are among the 21 teams in attendance at the event, hosted by Oglethorpe (Ga.) University on the Indian Mound Course at the Jekyll Island Golf Club.
THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 16th Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate Invitational
Location: Jekyll Island Golf Club/Indian Mound Course (5,801 yards, Par 72); Jekyll Island, Ga.
Team leaders: 1 – New York University (300-306—606, +30), 2 – Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (302-307—609, +33), 3 – Methodist (304-308—612, +36)
Individual leaders: 1 - Navika Kuchakulla, NYU (74-71—145, +1), 2 - Bailey Plourde, Centre (Ky.) College (75-71—146, +2), 3 -
Morgan Bowen, Methodist (73-74—147, +3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The top four squads on the team leaderboard went unchanged in the transition from Day 1 to Day 2 of the three-day event.
- Ranked eighth in the Golfstat poll, NYU carded the best score of the day to maintain the top spot at Jekyll, while CMU (Golfstat No. 15) nearly equaled the round to stay just three back from the leaders.
- With the third-best score on Saturday, Methodist kept its hold on third place and extended its cushion over fifth-ranked Rhodes College (Golfstat No. 5, 311-312—623, +47).
- Bowen (73-74—147, +3) began Saturday in a three-way tie for the individual lead, and was the only one of the three to stay close to the top score. She'll enter the final round on Sunday within two strokes of individual medalist honors.
- Jillian Drinkard (77-74—151, +7) was Methodist's big mover on the day, climbing nine spots from her morning starting position into seventh place at the end of the day.
- Another steady round from Peyton Durham (75-78—163, +19) kept the senior within the top 10 as she will tee off Sunday tied for ninth place.
- Tied for 48th in the field of 119 golfers is Paige Church (79-84—163, +19), while teammate Alexandra Williams (83-82—165, +21) trimmed one stroke from her Day 1 round and finished Saturday with a four-spot climb into a 55th-place tie.
THE NUMBERS GAME
- Methodist players have accumulated 23 birdies over the two days, topping all other teams.
- Bowen leads the field on the par 3s, posting a cumulative-to-par score of minus-1. Her seven birdies over two days is the second most within the field.
- Durham is playing the par 4s at a +3 rate, fifth best in the field.
UP NEXT
The concluding day of the Invitational is Sunday, with the Monarchs earning one of the preferred tee times along with -- and competing directly with -- NYU and CMU.
