The ISU women’s golf team places 12th at the Edwin Watts/ Palmetto Intercollegiate meet

Not every story has a happy ending. Sometimes, the princess does not get saved and the dashing hero does not always beat the dragon.

Unfortunately for the ISU women’s golf team, its final tournament of the fall season, the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate tournament in Kiawah Island, S.C., was not the ending the Redbirds would have hoped for.

The ‘Birds bounced back after a tough first day, improving upon their play, but they were still only able to climb to 12th place.

The Redbirds headed out onto the green early Monday morning for the first round of play. Collectively they had a rocky start, shooting a 23-over-par 307. This, however, would prove to be the ‘Birds best round of the tournament.

Freshman Brianna Cooper led ISU with a one-over-par 72, the best single round for the Redbirds for the entire tournament.

Following close behind Cooper was sophomore Katie Jean, who stroked a four-over-par 75. And coming in third for the ‘Birds was senior Terra Miller with a seven-over-par 78.  Hannah Bachman led the team in the first round by stroking a six-over-par 78

As the first round came to a close, Kennesaw State University claimed the top ranking, firing off a two-under-par 282. Individually, Leigh Whittaker from the College of Charleston posted the best score of the round, shooting a four-under-par 67.

“Although we had a few bright spots with Cooper shooting 72 in the morning,” ISU head coach Darby Sligh said. “We were plagued with big numbers throughout the day.”

The second round picked up immediately, and things just went from bad to worse as Redbird golfers dropped five stokes from the first round, carding a 28-over-par 312, ending the day in 15th place out of 18 teams.
Cooper continued to be the top performer for ISU, stroking a five-over-par 76. And she ended the day tied for 24th place.

Junior Hannah Bachman made a big improvement by carding a seven-over-par 78, five strokes better than her first round. Rounding out things for the ‘Birds were Miller and Jean, each shooting an eight-over-par 79.

Campbell University won the second round, meeting par with a 284. But it was not enough to claim first, as Charleston took the held the first position at the end of the day with a 10-over-par 578 (287-291).

First place in the individual rankings went to Leigh Whittaker, who topped the charts in the second round again. She shot an eight-under-par 134 (67-67), which tied for the lowest round in Charleston’s history.

“This wasn’t the day we were hoping for coming into this week,” Sligh said. “We really need to reach deep inside tomorrow and show some guts to end the fall season.”

The third and final round began the following day and the Redbirds were able to improve upon their score by two strokes, carding a 26-over-par 310. The consistent play was good enough to help them jump up in the rankings, ending tied for 12th place with an overall score of 65-over-par 929 (307-312-310).

Once again, Cooper remained the ‘Birds top performer and remained in 24th place, finishing things out with a nine-over-par 225.

 Jean followed, tying for 43rd place with a 15-over-par 231 (75-79-77). And Bachman improved once again, climbing up 12 spots in the rankings, ending in 57th place with a 22-over-par 238 (83-78-77).

Overall, Kennesaw was able to power its way to the top, winning the tournament with an 11-over-par 875 (282-298-295).

Coastal Carolina University came in second with a 16-over-par 880 (295-287-298). And rounding out the top-three was Campbell University who shot a 22-over-par 886 (299-284-303).

Individually, Whittaker continued to dominate and claimed the top prize, stroking an 11-under-par 205 (67-67-71).
Following Whittaker was Courtney Boe of Carolina Coast with a 2-under-par 214 (72-71-71). And third went to Ket Preamchuen of Kennesaw who carded a one-under-par 215 (74-72-69).

 The ISU women’s golf team will not see action again until the spring. The next tournament scheduled for the Redbirds is the Illinois Challenge in January.

“Looking to the spring, it’s going to be interesting how the team handles the different atmosphere of winter and playing indoors.” Sligh said. “We have a strong group, but it things can be very different, so it will be interesting to see how they handle that.”

The ISU men’s golf team takes ninth at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces

What is more memorable from the movie Titanic: Leonardo DiCaprio playing cards at the start, or drowning at the end? Whatever the outcome, the beginning is often forgotten while the ending reigns most memorable.

The ISU men’s golf team, which headed out to Las Cruces, N.M. earlier this week for its final tournament of the fall season, definitely made a mark when the Redbirds fought to improve upon their ranking from day one, ultimately taking ninth place out of 15 teams at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.

“We did have some positive things going throughout the days, but we let some shots slip away near the end of the rounds,” ISU head coach Ray Kralis said.

The Redbirds started off the tournament early Monday. As a team, the ‘Birds started off strong by carding their best round of the tournament, a six-over-par 290.

Individually, the team was led by senior Will Cullen, who stroked an impressive three-under-par 68.

Following Cullen was junior Eric Meier (one-over-par 72), and rounding out the top-three for the ‘Birds was freshman Wils Hawn with a three-over-par 74.

As the round came to a close,  New Mexico State University (NMSU) sat atop the rankings by firing off an eight-under-par 276.

First place in the individual rankings would go to senior Tim Madigan from NMSU, who won the tournament last year, by shooting the best single round score of the entire tournament of nine-under-par 63.

“Cullen’s 68 was big for us in the first round and kept us right in the mix,” Kralis said.

The second round kicked off right after the first, but unfortunately ISU could not keep its momentum going as the team dropped off by 14 strokes from round one, scoring a 20-over-par 304, the ‘Birds’ worst round of the tournament.

Overall, in the first day of play, the Redbirds fired off a 26-over-par 594 (290-304), good enough to place them in 10th place.

This time around it was senior Jeff Kellen who led the pack. He shot a two-over-par 73. Meier would finish the second round behind Kellen with a four-over-par 75.

And with a six-over-par 77, Cullen would complete the Redbirds top three. Cullen also proved to be the top performer for the team at the end of the first day, coming in 14th place with a three-over-par 145.

The top honors for the second round would go to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Washington State University, each with a four-over-par 288. However, New Mexico State was still number one at the end of the day with a six-over-par 574 (276-298)

Individually, Trent Sanders from Washington State won the second round with a three-under-par 68. It was not enough to dethrone Madigan though, who still held the top spot as the day concluded with a six-under-par 136 (63-73) score.

“Unfortunately, we struggled as a team in the afternoon and didn’t keep pace,” Kralis said. “To separate yourself on a day like this, you need to go low like a few of the top teams did. We’ll take the positives with us and look for a stronger team effort tomorrow.”

At 9 a.m. the following day, the third and final round began. After a disappointing second round, the Redbirds were able to bounce back, stroking a seven-over-par 291.

Meier stepped up in the final round and led the team by firing off a one-under-par 70.

Kellen came in behind with a one-over-par 72. And two strokes behind Kellen was Cullen with a three-over-par 74
“We played a solid third round,” Kralis said. “Conditions were very good through most of the round, and that tends to be an equalizer among the field.”

 Overall, ISU fought its way up to ninth place and scored a 33-over-par 885 (290-304-291). Meier proved to be the Redbirds top performer of the tournament, coming in 15th place with a four-over-par 217 total score.

Cullen came in next, carding a six-over-par 219 (68-77-74) and tying for 18th place. Kellen followed, tied for 27th place, with an eight-over-par 221 (76-73-72).

Kansas was able to slide into first place on the strength of an impressive third round score of 273.  Overall, the Jayhawks shot a six-over-par 858 (295-290-273).

Coming in second place was UNLV with a seven-over-par 859 (289-288-282). And rounding out the top-three was New Mexico State with a 12-over-par 864 (276-298-290).

Individually, Madigan (63-73-72) was able to maintain first place, but University of Idaho’s Matt Rawitzer (68-70-70) climbed up and was able to tie for the top spot. They scored a five-under-par 208.

Coming in at third was Alex Gutesha from Kansas (72-70-68) and Blake Biddle from UNLV (71-70-69), each scoring a three-under-par 210.

 “We have some work to do in the off season,” Kralis said. “We need more consistency from our fourth and fifth scores and we need to get that corrected to be successful in the spring.”

With the fall season at its end, the ’Birds will not take to the green again until next February when they compete in the Roadrunner Intercollegiate in Texas.