FLORENCE, Ind. – The Alabama State University women's golf team traveled far north to Indiana, where it competed in the NKU Fall Invitational, hosted by Northern Kentucky, at the Belterra Golf Club in Florence on Monday and Tuesday.
The two-day tournament saw the Lady Hornets stay in the thick of things throughout, improving in each round as it got as high as fifth place in the middle of the second round before finishing its outing in a tie for sixth out of 11 competing teams at the 5,953, par-71 course that was adjusted by 35 yards on the second and ninth holes for a 5,988 yard third round.
Graduate transfer
Jade Scott led the way for Alabama State in the opening round, carding a 2-over-38 on the back nine while finishing 5-over-76 to lead the six-player ASU contingent. Not far behind was
Zoey Stern, who matched Scott with a 3-over-par 38 on the front nine and carded six pars and a birdie on the back half to finish +6.
Cadence Nance and
Christiana Marcellus had nearly identical rounds, finishing five over on the front half before improving by a stroke on the back nine to record 9-over-par 80 on the round.
Jennifer Cho and
Lucia Ibanez Parada had strong starts as well, as the former had seven of nine pars on the back half to help match Scott's back nine score for the best on the team, while the latter had four pars and a birdie on the back half as she hit four strokes over par on that end as an individual competitor.
Stern had a strong second round, collecting a pair of birdies and a dozen pars for a 3-over-par 74 middle round, one of the best performances in the round that was split across two days. Not far behind was Marcellus, who had identical 38-stroke halves that were capped off by a three-stroke eagle on the 450-yard, par-5 18th to finish two strokes back of Stern. Nance picked up a pair of birdies to finish 9-over, while Ibanez Parada had matched Stern's team-best front nine with a 2-over mark after going 8-for-9 in pars on the front half.
The final round was a great all-around performance by the Lady Hornets. Leading the field of 63 golfers in the round was the rookie Stern, who had four birdies – two of which came in a 2-under-34 back nine as she finished 1-under-70 to collect the first top-ten finish of her young collegiate career (+8, 9th overall). Nance had a strong front nine, carding a trio of birdies to highlight her 1-under-35 start. The Sharpsburg, Ga., native finished the day 2-over and ended the weekend tied for 26th with a +20 performance.
Scott regained her momentum from the opening round, finishing with an even back half with two birdies and six pars to finish 31st on the leaderboard (+21). Ibanez Parada continued her success as the team's lone individual golfer, opening a stroke under par on the 382-yard first hole, and finished with a birdie and two pars on the final four holes to go 4-over on the day and wrap up the weekend in 38th place (+22). Following closely behind were Marcellus (+9 third round, +23 overall, T-39th) and Cho (+4 third round, +28 overall, 48th) for a successful second outing of the season.
The top five was filled with all northern teams, headlined by Butler, who finished 22-over-874 across the two-day competition. The Bulldogs were trailed by second-place IU Indy (+44) and third-place Illinois-Chicago (+52). Bama State was in a tie with the Phoenix of Green Bay at +67, while Southwestern Athletic Conference foe Southern was two strokes back in eighth (+69). Butler's Addi Kooi finished as the tournament's medalist, posting sub-par rounds in the first and second while finishing even in the final round for a 5-under-208; the only competitor to finish under par.
The Lady Hornets join the men's squad as the two head out to their first competition together in two weeks at the two-day Motor City Matchup, hosted by Central Michigan University, on Monday, October 12, and Tuesday, October 13, at the Birmingham Country Club in Birmingham, Mich.
