KYLE, Texas – Ella Ofstedahl finished fourth on the individual leaderboard, and the Georgia Southern
women’s golf team took fifth at the Texas State Invitational at Plum Creek Golf Club Tuesday.
Ofstedahl’s second-round 69, tied for the second-lowest in school history, helped the Eagles post a 294 team score. That mark tied for the third-lowest team score at Georgia Southern.
The Eagles (+42) finished two strokes behind tournament host Texas State (+40) and 10 shots behind third-place Houston Baptist (+32). GS was six shots clear of sixth-place Lamar (+48).
With play suspended in the second round Monday, the teams began the day by finishing the second round this morning and stayed in the same pairings for the third and final round this afternoon.
Ofstedahl (+2) shot 69-74 for her best finish as an Eagle, which was four strokes off the lead. Ansley Bowman (+11) shot 75-71 to place 22nd, and Julianna Collett, playing in her first collegiate tournament in over a year, carded a 74-78 to tie for 31st. Sarah Noonan posted 76-75 today, while Natalie Petersen shot 80-80.
The story – Rd. 2
Ofstedahl opened the second round on the back nine and posted five straight pars before birdieing holes 15 and 16 en route to posting a 1-under 35 on the back. She played the front nine 1-under as well, ending the round with four straight pars before making birdie on the par-5, 497-yard 9th hole for a 69.
Collett also started on the 10th hole and made par on her first five holes. She birdied hole 16 on her way to a 37 on the back nine and parred seven of nine on the front for a 74.
Bowman started the round with pars on five of her first seven holes and played her final three holes 1-under with a birdie on hole 9 for a 75. Noonan made four birdies to shoot 2-under on the front nine on her way to a 76.
The story Rd. 3
Bowman posted three birdies and shot a 1-under 34 on the front nine. The junior made birdie on holes 3, 9 and 16 and played her final seven holes of the tournament 1-under.
Ofstedahl played her final four holes 2-under with birdies on 6 and 7 and wound up shooting 1-under on the front nine. The sophomore also had a string of seven straight pars as she made the turn.
Noonan made two birdies in the afternoon round and parred four of her final five holes of the day.
Quotables from head coach Emily Kuhfeld
“The team has been working hard and preparing well and was ready for this. We are so proud of the way they handled themselves and their games in challenging conditions!”
“Ella led the way, being in contention for the first time in her college career, and she did a great job handling that and learning from it.”
“We are excited to continue to build on the solid foundation we have built over the year and are looking forward to our next event!”
Next up
The Eagles return to action at the Kiawah Island Classic at Osprey Point in Kiawah, S.C., Feb. 25-27.