Women's Golf | 3/17/2019 5:56:00 PM

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. Methodist made a valiant challenge to the top of the leaderboard Sunday but was unable to catch eventual champion Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (302-307-303—912, plus 48), which captured the 2019 Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate Invitational by six strokes over the runner-up Monarchs (304-308-306—918, +54).

Methodist, ranked 13th in the latest Golfstat.com Division III relative rankings, pulled ahead of New York University (Golfstat No. 8) Sunday on the final day of the three-day event. The Monarchs were 13 strokes better than the Violets who had entered the final round at the top of the leaderboard.

Three Methodist golfers played into the top 10 of the 119-participant field, led by Morgan Bowen's (73-74-75—222, +6) second-place finish. Jillian Drinkard (77-74-76—227, +11) finished in fourth place, while Peyton Durham (75-78-77—230, +14) tied for ninth.

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 leaderboard:  1 – Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (302-307-303—912, +48), 2 – Methodist (304-308-306—918, +54), 3 – New York University (300-306-319—925, +61),
Individual leaderboard: 1 - Navika Kuchakulla, NYU (74-71-75—220, +4), 2 - Morgan Bowen, Methodist (73-74-75—222, +6), 3 - Bailey Plourde, Centre (Ky.) College (75-71-78—224, +8)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the final pairings, NYU, CMU, Methodist and Rhodes College (Golfstat No. 5), were paired together on Sunday, meaning the top four teams would be facing each other on every hole across the final 18.
• Both CMU (Golfstat No. 15) and Methodist capitalized on the pressure felt by NYU heading into the last round within a field that included eight teams from Golfstat's top 25. The Tartans' 303 was the best round of the day, with Methodist's 306 hitting the clubhouse with the second-best score on Sunday.
• Chasing the top three in fourth place to start the morning was Rhodes, but a threat from the Lynx never materialized. Their three-day 934 (311-312-311) allowed them to keep hold of fourth place, but that would be their highest point on the leaderboard.
• The individual medalist honor was a battle between two players who were literally playing against each other -- Methodist's Morgan Bowen and NYU's Navika Kuchakulla -- and another, Centre's Bailey Plourde, who was teeing off at approximately the same time, but beginning on the back nine.
• Plourde gave chase sight unseen, but the medalist honor came down to Bowen and Kuchakulla.
• The NYU golfer had a three-stroke lead over Bowen with two holes to play, but had to watch Bowen drop in a birdie putt on No. 17 to pull within two -- with just No. 18 left to play.
• Kuchakulla parred the final hole, and Bowen did the same to cement the top two spots.
• Methodist's move toward the top rung of the team leaderboard was not only Bowen-driven. Drinkard moved up three spots Sunday into fourth on the final leaderboard, while experienced senior golfer Durham held steady in her ninth-place slot.
• The biggest climber on the leaderboard for the Monarchs was Paige Church (79-84-78—241, +25), who recovered from a trying round on Saturday to record her best round of the Invitational on Sunday. Church began the day in 48th place but finished the tournament tied for 32nd place.
• Also climbing the chart on Sunday was Alexandra Williams (83-82-81—246, +30), who moved up nine spots to finished tied for 46th after posting her best round of the tournament.

THE NUMBERS GAME

• Bowen posted four birdies on her final scorecard, pushing her three-day total to 11, the most of any golfer in the field. She played the par 3s to a cumulative par total of +1, and the par 4s to a +5 total.
• Drinkard registered nine consecutive pars, from No. 6 through No. 14, on Sunday. Her -2 to-par total on the par 5s was third best in the tournament.
• Durham struggled on the front nine Sunday, making the turn at 6-over, but rolled in seven consecutive pars to start the back, then birdied No. 17 before parring out at No. 18 to close 1-under on the back.
• Church notches three consecutive pars three different times in her final round.
• Williams was even through three holes before alternating par/bogey for most of the rest of her round.
• Methodist's 31 birdies were the most of the 21 teams at the Invitational.
• The Monarchs were second best  on the par 3s (+22), par 4s (+62) and par 5s (+2).

NEXT UP
Methodist travels across the country for its next tournament, heading to Rancho Mirage, California, for the March 25-26 Bulldogs (Univ. of Redlands) Classic.