Last fall the Morehead State women's golf team put together a furious 10-stroke rally to win the Illinois-Chicago Briar Ridge Invitational. This fall, the Eagles didn't need to rally as they led from start to finish in repeating as Briar Ridge Invitational champions at Briar Ridge Country Club in northern Indiana.
Morehead State fired team scores of 300-298-598 to win by nine strokes over second place finishers Green Bay and Western Michigan. College golf matches see five players on a team, with the best four scores each round counting toward the team total. MSU was the only team to score better than 600 during the two 18-hole days.
"I am excited for the team that we were able to gain the lead on day one and finish out strong and repeat as a champion here," said head coach Stephanie Barker. "I felt like we handled the challenges with the wind and the way it would shift and gust. The greens are quite tricky here too, but we handled them for the most part very well. Overall, I am just happy with how we handled the variables here. We learned a lot and can build on this. To have three top 10s out of five players is awesome."
Freshman Ruth Tonnessen secured her first career top-5 effort, finishing third with a two-day score of 75-71-146. Tonnessen carded just four strokes out of first place, where two players tied for the individual title. She also led all players with nine birdies. As a team, MSU led the field in par-3 scoring and was second in par 4s, pars and total birdies made.
MacKenzie Neal and Olivia Hensley also registered top-10 scorecards. Neal fashioned a 76-74-150 to tie in seventh place, her eighth career top-10 performance. Hensley notched her fifth career top-10 effort, scoring a 73-78-151 to tie for 10th.
Hailey Rietz was just barely outside the top 10, coming in tied for 12th with a 78-75-153, while freshman Tuva Isabakke was 33rd at 76-85-161.
The Eagles also fielded three individuals, where Hanna Montgomery tied teammate Rietz in 12th place. Her score was 82-71-153, which was the second best among the 23 individuals. Alina-Sophie Koch (79-91-170) and Hannah Curreri (85-90-175) also competed.
Morehead State's next action is at the Edisto Island (S.C.) Invitational on Oct. 9-11.
By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations