No. 41 Indiana women's golf earned its third top-five finish of the season and its first of the spring, placing fourth at the Valspar Augusta Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Saturday and Sunday. The Hoosiers earned a 13-over-par team score of 877 across three rounds.
Of the 17 teams that competed in Augusta, only three were included in the top 50 of clippd’s most recent rankings. The Hoosiers, No. 34 University of Missouri and No. 37 University of Kentucky fronted the lineup of teams that also featured Daytona State College — the second-ranked junior college in the nation.
The Hoosiers shot an even-par 288 in the opening round Saturday. Redshirt junior Sheridan Clancy led the team with four birdies. Clancy’s 2-under-par score of 70 helped lift Indiana to third place after round one, only trailing Missouri and Kentucky.
Sporting a 5-under-par 283, Missouri sat atop the standings at the conclusion of the first round, leading Kentucky by two strokes. Missouri’s top golfer in round one was senior Melanie Walker, who achieved a 4-under-par score of 68, the best score of the round.
Despite another under-par score from Clancy, a 7-over-par team score of 295 in the second round dropped Indiana to a tie with Minnesota for fourth place. Clancy ended day one with an accumulated 3-under-par score, which was tied for second best individually. No other Hoosier had a score under par after the first two rounds.
All but two teams shot over par in the second round. Missouri extended its advantage with a 7-under-par 281 and Furman University shot a 4-under-par 284 that propelled the Paladins into second place between highly-ranked Missouri and Kentucky. Walker’s even-par score in round two maintained her first-place position.
The Hoosiers separated themselves from Minnesota by way of a 6-over-par score of 294 in round three and owned a fourth-place finish by the end of Sunday’s round. Minnesota shot a 9-over-par 297. Senior Madison Dabagia was the top-preforming Hoosier in round three, shooting even par for the round with a score of 72. Clancy’s 2-over-par 74 dropped her four spots on the final standings, resulting in a sixth-place individual finish.
Dabagia and junior Katie Poots matched each other with 5-over-par final scores, tying for 26th place, as the top four Hoosiers finished the event 26th or better.
Only five individuals golfed well enough for an under-par score in round three, and no teams accomplished the feat. Missouri’s 10-over-par 298 score made things close, but Furman’s 5-over-par score of 293 was not enough to overcome the Tigers. Missouri finished as the only team with an accumulated score under par, leaving Augusta with a 2-under-par final score of 862 and its fourth tournament win of the season.
The individual scoreboard saw a dramatic shift after Sunday’s round, with Walker garnering zero birdies, four bogies and two double-bogies to sink her from first place to a tie for 21st place by the end of the day courtesy of an 8-over-par score of 80. Xavier University sophomore Isabel Brozena’s 8-under-par 64 was the best score of round three. Brozena climbed 18 spots to finish in first place with a 7-under-par final score of 209, despite entering the final round in 19th place.
Indiana will continue its season at the Liz Murphey Collegiate March 28-30 at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Georgia.
