ATLANTA, Ga. — The Oglethorpe Stormy Petrel women’s squad had a fall best fifth place finish in Memphis, Tennessee, in the season’s first tournament. Rounds of 305, the low round of the fall, was followed by a 28 over par 316 for a two-day total of 621 for fifth at Mirimichi.
The women finished 10th in Montgomery at Huntingdon’s MCC Classic and 11th at the Chick-fil-A Collegiate in Rome, Georgia, in their best two other finishes.
The Petrels totaled nine rounds of golf this fall and averaged 324.6 and ended the fall ranked #64 in the nation and #12 in the south region.
“We weren’t as consistent round to round as we hoped this fall,” commented coach Mark Random. “We couldn’t keep the big numbers off our scorecards all fall season. We had our share of birdies and pars, but when it came to cleaning up bogeys, we struggled with that and found ways to turn bogey into double bogey too many times. We will get that cleaned up in the spring.”
Player by Player
Junior Elizabeth Powell led the team this fall and finds herself ranked just outside of the nation’s top 100 players at #105. The Roswell, Georgia, native tied for first in the season’s opening event in Memphis. Powell fired rounds of 71-71=142 for a 2 under total and found herself in a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. She was edged out by a birdie on the first playoff hole but earned Southern Athletic Association athlete of the week honors for her great weekend.
Powell was the Oglethorpe low medalist in three of the four major tournaments of the fall. Powell posted a 77.2 adjusted scoring average and all nine of her rounds counted in the team score this fall. She has accrued a record of 189 wins, 134 losses and seven ties on the season to date.
Senior Sophia Morettini has the second lowest scoring average at 80.7 for the fall and is currently ranked #291 in the Clippd/Scoreboard rankings. Morettini finished 38th at the Montgomery Collegiate Classic in September with rounds of 81-75=156 for her best finish of the fall season. The 75 was the low single round of the fall for Morettini.
Sophomore Abrianna Carstens and her 81.7 scoring average was third best on the squad and earned her the #289 overall ranking nationally in the Clippd/Scoreboard rankings for fall 2024. Carstens has a 127-187-16 record against all competition this fall. Following rounds of 72-78=150 (+6) at Mirimichi in the Joe and Lee Duncan Invitation, Carstens finished T-10th for her best finish of the fall season.
Freshman Morgan McKenzie, from Mount Paran School and Marietta, Georgia, checked in with the fourth lowest scoring average at 84.5 and is ranked #510 overall in the national player rankings. McKenzie’s 83-87=170 (+24) performance in Rome at the Chick-fil-A Classic was her best finish in the fall. The first-year player ended the fall an 81-241-8 overall record.
Alexis Sinutko competed in all four major tournaments this fall and posted an 84.8 scoring average and a 65-262-3 overall record. The Shelly Township, Michigan, native is currently ranked #538 overall in the national rankings. The freshman had a season best 48th place finish in Memphis at Mirimichi and had a pretty consistent fall with a 48th, 50th and 55th place individually in three of her four starts in 2024.
Junior Grace Daech finished T-51st in Rome at Berry’s Chick-fil-A event after posting scored of 80-92=172 (+26). Daech appeared in three of the four tournaments this fall and ended the fall with an 86.2 scoring average and ranked #598 overall individually. Daech had a 61-263-6 overall season record.
Freshman Madison Davis fired a closing round 83 (+10) at the Chick-fil-A event in Rome to earn her best finish T-58th of the fall season. The Minnesota native averaged 87.6 for her four competitive tournament rounds this fall. Davis ended the fall with a 35-107-3 overall record in her two starts.
Freshman Katie Sulko of Hambert High School in Suwanee, Georgia, played in two of the four fall tournaments. Sulko played to an 88.1 scoring average and totaled a 37-103-5 overall record in the fall season. Sulko had a season best 11 over par 83 in Memphis.
Sophomore Hannah Erwig posted an 88.1 average in her two tournament starts including a season best 84 at Mirimichi at the Joe and Lee Duncan Invitational hosted by Rhodes College. Erwig ended the fall with a 31-111-3 record in her two tournaments this year.
Freshman Joyanna Rainey averaged a 94.8 in her two events this fall including a low score of 90 in Memphis in September.
Looking Ahead
The women look to bounce back this spring and have an excellent schedule set in front of them to do just that.
“We are capable of being a top-40 team this year despite being so young,” said head coach Jim Owen. “Over half of our team counting rounds were played by underclassmen. The ladies gained great experience and had an elite top 25 strength of schedule this fall. We took some lumps because of it.”
Oglethorpe will travel to Berry College’s Spring Invitational at a new venue at the Georgia Southern Course in Statesboro to start the spring.
“it’s an outstanding course and a great move to GSU by Berry Coach Brian Farrer,” added Owen. “The team will enjoy the move.”
A second course change in the second event of the fall has the ladies changing Islands from Jekyll to St. Simons Island and moving, for a year, to the King and Prince Course on St. Simons Island. Jekyll is fully engaged in renovations and will welcome the women back in 2026 to their freshly renovated Great Dunes Course.
“We appreciate the King and Prince allowing us to host in 2025,” commented Owen. “We will move our 24-team championship an hour north for this year.”
In April, the Petrels return to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where they finished third last year in the second annual Marine Intercollegiate.
The SAA Championships returns to Greystone Golf Course in Dickson, Tennessee, April 24-27, and the Petrels will look to improve on their fourth-place finish last year.