The Murray State women’s golf team was stifled by Mother Nature Tuesday at the Bearcat Classic as heavy rain soaked the final round of the tournament.
The Racers took eighth place after the first day of the tournament at TPC River’s Bend Maineville, Ohio. But they were unable to move any higher because the rainfall took out rounds two and three. The final scores of the Classic were determined by the first-round scores.
Head Coach Velvet Milkman said one of the big challenges the women’s team faced during this tournament was the weather.
“We had rain delay every day and on the first day was cut from 36 holes to 18 holes,” Milkman said.
The Racers were led by the trio of Sophie Hillier, Abbi Stamper and Sydney Trimble at a 6-over-par with a score of 78 – good enough to tie for 22nd place out of 96 players at the Classic.
As a team, they scored 314 in the first round of the tournament Monday for eighth overall in the field of 16 teams. The Racers’ score tied them with Xavier and Wofford.
Milkman said going into the tournament the main goal for the team was to put themselves into a position to win the tournament, which they had done on the first day.
“I feel like had the tournament finished we would have won or at the worst taken second overall,” Milkman said.
Jacklyn Van Meter placed 35th with an overall score of 80. Freshman Moa Folke shot an 81 to finish 47th, while sophomore Minta Yin had an overall score 83, placing her 63rd.
The Racers finished one stroke behind seventh place Memphis, which had an overall score of 313. Cincinnati, the home team, won with a team score of 307, one stroke ahead of second place Morehead State and two ahead of Eastern Kentucky.
Bowling Green State placed fourth with 310, Toledo was fifth with 311 and UAB finished sixth with 312.
Murray State’s Anna Moore, playing in the individual events, shot 80 for the round, which landed her in 35th place in the individual pairings.
The next challenge for the Racers is at the Austin Peay Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday in Clarksville, Tenn., at the Clarksville Country Club.
“I expect the momentum from this tournament to carry over and give us some confidence going into our next event next week,” Milkman said.
They’ll get another taste of OVC competition. Austin Peay hasn’t hit the links since Sept. 30 when the women finished 11th and 88 strokes behind tournament winner Troy State.
Story by Heath Ringstaff, Contributing writer