Women’s golf wins ASC Championship

The Patriots women’s golf team certainly picked the right time of the year to play their best.

After winning their first tournament in program history on April 7, the team followed up by winning their first American Southwest Conference title at Hurricane Creek in Anna.

The win secures a bid to the NCAA Division III National Golf Tournament in Port St. Lucie, Fla. May 13-16.

After Monday’s first round, the women held a two shot lead over Schreiner and a five shot lead over McMurry.

Day two proved to be even better for the team. Four of the five golfers improved from their first round scores to help seal the 12 stroke victory over Schreiner.

Katie Harris led the team with scores of 87 and 80 to finish in fourth place in the tournament to receive First Team All Conference honors.

Harris was followed by Amber Grounds, who finished seventh in the tournament with scores of 87 and 83, which earned her Second Team All Conference honors.

Jordan Woodruff and Lisha Nigh both finished tied for 12th with totals of 174, and freshman Jennifer King rounded things out with a total of 178.

LeTourneau’s Leslie Lee took home the individual crown with scores of 83 and 76.

“At the start of the year we knew we had the talent to win,” Coach King Campbell said following the tournament.

“We didn’t play well in the fall, but got our confidence back with our first win at Schreiner. This was Katie’s best performance of the year, and the team peaked at the right time.”

Campbell added that the team’s depth certainly played a big role.

“When every score is in the 80s, you will win most of the time,” Campbell said.

Unfortunately, the Patriot’s men golf team didn’t fair as well in the tournament.

While the team did finished second, their expectation of redeeming last year’s lost was unmet.

After day one, the team held a one shot over Mary Hardin-Baylor and a five shot lead over McMurry.

During the third round, things seemed to be going the Patriots’ way through the first nine holes, but took a turn for the worst on the back nine.

Several double bogeys and even a quadruple bogey, all but lost the tournament.

“We were confident after [front] 9, but ran into a train wreck on the back [nine],” Campbell said. “We made some poor decisions and made too many big numbers.”

Brandon Ellis finished fourth in the tournament to lead the team with scores of 82-69-73 and receive First Team All-ASC.

Brian Jennings received Second Team All-ASC by finishing tied for sixth with scores of 73-75-79.

Mary Hardin-Baylor took home first place with a three-day total of 900, seven better than the Patriots.

The Patriots still have a chance at going to the national tournament. There are two at-large bids to the tournament and Campbell said he is “fairly optimistic” about getting one of the bids.

He said the team’s resume speak for itself and the team deserves it after winning six matches this year.

The decision is schedule to be announced on May 4.

By Clay Ihlo Sports Writer