MACON, Ga. – Ella Ofstedahl tied for 13th for her best career finish, and Natalie Petersen cracked the top-20 for the third straight tournament as the Georgia Southern women’s golf team capped the fall season at the Idle Hour Collegiate at Idle Hour Country Club Tuesday.
Ofstedahl shot 82-76-73=231 for the tournament and fired the second-lowest score of the day today with a 73. Petersen carded a 77-78-77=232 after tying for second at the Terrier Intercollegiate last week and 18th at the Jacksonville Classic. Ofstedahl tied for 15th at the Terrier Intercollegiate. Host Mercer won the tournament, and Western Kentucky placed second, followed by Eastern Kentucky, Rutgers and Troy. The Eagles finished 11th.
Petersen notched par or better on 13 straight holes in today’s round and made birdie on holes 16, 4 and 7. She played the front nine 2-under and finished the day with a 73. The freshman got off to a great start in the tournament with par on her first eight holes and made par on her last three of the first round to post a 77. After a tough start to the second round, she righted the ship with the help of an eagle on the par-5 4th hole. She added a birdie on hole 7 and shot even on the front nine in the second round on her way to a 78.
Ofstedahl made par on seven of her first nine holes and played her final 10 holes 2-under to post a 73 today. The sophomore led the Eagles in yesterday’s second round as she started the session with four straight pars and played her first 11 holes 2-over. She made five straight pars on the front and wound up shooting 38 on each side for a 76.
Quotable from Coach Emily Kuhfeld:
“This fall, we had our work cut out for us with a challenging schedule and a young team. I am proud of the improvements I am seeing on and off the course from the team as a whole, and from Ella and Natalie in particular. They both played some solid golf and ended this last event with top-20 finishes. We are committed to the process that will lead to the level of success we want for this program, and we are excited to come together again to compete in the spring.”