Women's Golf | 5/10/2022 8:03:00 PM

HOUSTON, TX.  In the opening round of the NCAA 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championship Tuesday afternoon, Methodist sits in third-place following a score of 12-over par 300, only eight strokes behind Day 1 leader Emory University (292, +4).

Jillian Drinkard paces the team with an even par 72, placing her as the only Monarch in the top 10, by a four-way tie for fifth place.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championship
Location: Bay Oaks Country Club (Par 72, 5,866 yards); Houston, TX.
Dates: May 10-13, 2022
Host institution: Mary Hardin-Baylor
Participants: 29 teams and 6 individuals; 151 golfers
Top 3 teams: 1 – Emory (292, +4), 2 – Washington University (St. Louis) (297, +9), 3 – Methodist (300, +12)
Top 3 individuals: 1 – Washington University (St. Louis) (37-32—69, -3), T2 – Alison Takamiya, George Fox University (34-36‚70, -2), T2 – Sarah Hsu, Oglethorpe University (31-39-70, -2)

OPENING ROUND NOTES

• Methodist -- ranked No. 4 in both the Women's Golf Coaches Association poll and the Golfstat.com rankings -- had an early-morning tee time and started its round on the back of the course with the par-3 10th.
• Drinkard (37-35—77, E), ranked No. 2 in the golfstat poll, had the most success on the day, exhibiting a strong presence through her first 13 holes. She started the day off with two back-to-back birdies, and upon rounding the turn, she followed with three back-to-back birdies on the front nine. After staying under par for most of the round (lowest being 4-under), Drinkard struggled on holes six and nine, double bogeying both holes to finish the day even.
• Ingrid Steingrimsen (35-40-75, +3) fell in behind Drinkard with a 3-over par score. After taking some time to get her shot going, she bounced back from a 4-over back nine to hit two back-to-back birdies on holes five and six, landing a one-under on the front nine to tie for 15th.
• Maggie Williams (42-34-76, +4) played the opposite of Steingrimsen, posting a two-under par score on the back nine (the best score from the team), but was shaken up following the turn. Four bogeys and one double bogey would offset her score by six strokes, to finish the day four-over and third on the team. This dropped her place in the leaderboards to a tie for 28^th.
• Playing in their first national tournament, Emily Gresham (39-38-77, +5) and Natalie Brosig (38-40-78, +6) finished within one stroke of each other.
• Gresham remained consistent between both front and back nines but slipped up on hole three, and triple bogeyed. Luckily, she showed championship level effort after registering a par following the triple. She went on to finish the round by carding two birdies, to earn a spot in 34^th place along with eight other golfers.
• Brosig was steady on the day, hitting 12 pars. She was unable to counter her six bogeys as she could not register any birdies during the round. She finished the day tied for 42^nd place.

PUT-TING IT TOGETHER

• Of the top 10 teams, eight are ranked in the top 10 WGCA and golfstat.com polls, with New York University and Washington University being the only two teams higher at 11^th and 12^th, respectively.
• In the individual leaderboards, only one individual from the top three is a part of a team that is in the top three on the team leaderboards.
• Hsu, from Oglethorpe, is competing as an individual in the tournament and is currently tied for second.
• Just like Methodist, Emory has one player in the top 10 following day one.

UP NEXT

• Methodist's first golfer is scheduled to begin Round 2 on the front nine at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, and the Monarchs will be again partnered with Williams College and George Fox.
• Day 3 tee times will be determined by placings on the team leaderboard.
• For Friday's concluding round, the 29-team field will cut to the top 15 after the third round, and will also include the top six individuals not on teams making the cut.