William Penn Faces Off with Ranked Foes in Patriot Invite
London, Ky.--The Statesmen women's golf team matched up against two ranked programs as it competed at the Cumberlands Patriot Invitational Monday and Tuesday.
WPU, which is unofficially 30th in the NAIA, finished third out of six teams with a three-round score of 988 (327-338-323) at the par-73 Crooked Creek Golf Course. No. 7 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) claimed the team crown at 929 (304-310-315), while No. 16 and host Cumberlands (Ky.) was runner-up at 961 (316-323-322).
Butpapaporn Sukterm of Lindsey Wilson headed the 35-player field at 225 (77-73-75), while Olivia Lange (Sr., Buckeburg, Germany, Business Management) and Gabriana Franco (Jr., Tracy, Calif., Exercise Science) each earned top-10 finishes as well.
Lange tied for sixth at 238 (79-79-80), while Franco tied for eighth at 239 (81-80-78).
Emma Lawson (Sr., Rossville, Ind., Exercise Science) narrowly missed the top 10 as she finished 12th at 247 (81-87-79).
Riley Burns (Sr., Edwardsville, Ill., Elementary Education), in a tie for 23rd at 264 (86-92-86), and Bliss Martin (Jr., Hamilton, Ill., Biology), in 28th at 273 (89-95-89), were also on the links for the navy and gold at the Invitational.
"I am happy with the way we battled very difficult conditions," Head Coach Darin Fisher said. "We got pretty much all the elements over the two days. It was a battle mentally and physically, and we did a good job for the most part. We knew we had a chance to move up in the rankings by stealing a win against some ranked teams, but we just made too many unforced errors and had too many three-putts."
"I did not prepare our athletes as well as they needed to be, and that is on me, but I have no doubt we will bounce back positively," Fisher added. "We have an amazing opportunity in Kansas next week and we will prepare with great practices this week."
Next Up: William Penn travels to Salina, Kan. next Monday and Tuesday to compete in the Bethany Classic. Play will be contested at Sand Creek Station Golf Course.
