The SVSU women’s golf team hosted its SVSU Fall Invitational tournament this past weekend at the Saginaw Valley Public Golf Course.
Playing in a nine-team field, the squad looked to gain an edge on some of its GLIAC opponents.
The weather brought about long and straight drives, creating opportunities for low scores. SVSU and Ashland, among others, took advantage of the pristine conditions.
After the first round, the Lady Cards were sitting in seventh place after a program-low team score of 318. Sophomore Alexa Marston and redshirt freshman Lucy Cornwell carded the lowest individual scores for the SVSU team with a pair of 7-over-par 79s. The duo was closely followed by sophomores Sabrina Coffman and Shelbe Cahill, who each entered the clubhouse with an 8-over-par 80 round.
Freshman Annika Neumann, playing individually, tied her low-scoring counterparts with a 7-over 79.
Ashland led the tournament by seven strokes after a historic first round with a team score of 298, the Eagles’ second best single round team score ever. Ashland sophomore Krystal Hu fired a 4-under-par 68, tying Ashland’s second lowest single round individual score. Hu led by 2 strokes after Saturday’s.
The final round of the invitational brought about another good round for the Lady Cards. As a team, SVSU shot 313, making its final tournament score 631, good for sixth place.
Coffman led the final day charge for the Cardinals, shooting a 1-over-par 73 to finish with 153 strokes overall. Cornwell also went lower in the final round, totaling 155 strokes after shooting 76 on Sunday. Marston and Cahill both finished with 82s in the final round.
Wayne State came from 9 shots back to win the invitational by 3 strokes over Northwood, finishing with a total of 607. Hu shot a 1-under-par 71 to finish with a total of 139 and win the invitational individually, beating the next lowest individual by 6 strokes.
Even though the squad didn’t finish as high as it would’ve liked, many on the team are optimistic about where the Cardinals are headed.
“We were pretty disappointed with this being our home course and placing sixth, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are getting better,” Marston said.
The men’s golf team is finishing up the Findlay Invitational today in Ohio.
The women’s team’s next match is the GVSU Invitational in Allendale on Saturday, Sept. 30.
