After two intense days of competition, the Ohio women’s golf team produced an eighth-place finish in the two-day Rocket Classic.
The Bobcats started the second day at Port Clinton’s Catawba Island Golf Club in sixth place on the leaderboards, but dropped to eighth after a rough third round of play, in which Ohio recorded a 33-over-par performance, which contributed to a team score of 952 for the tournament.
“To move up and even stay competitive, we would have had to shoot around 310,” coach Kelly Ovington said. “Our short game and our putting was quite a challenge for us (in the tournament).”
Much of the fall on the leaderboards stemmed from declined performances Tuesday from four of six Bobcat golfers.
Most notably was senior Kristen Helmsdoerfer’s drop from eighth to 23rd, as she shot an 83 during the last round, though she finished with a total score of 236 for 20-over-par.
However, there were two Ohio players to increase their place in the standings after day one.
One was sophomore Angela Codian, who jumped from ninth place to eighth after she shot a 77 for five-over-par. She finished the tournament with a score of 230 for 14-over-par.
The other was fellow sophomore Lauren McKinzie, who shot a 79 for seven-over-par during round three and finished with an overall score of 251 for 35-over-par, as she improved her individual spot from 68th to 62nd.
“(Codian) is an outstanding player,” Ovington said. “She has a good golf swing, and she’s very competitive. … It would be nice to see her continue that through the postseason and the offseason.”
Also in action for Ohio were junior Julie Lechner, who finished 30th with an overall 239 score for 23-over-par, and freshman Hailey Hrynewich, who began the day tied for 36th, but after shooting a round of 83 strokes, fell to 43rd.
Senior Kara Brinkmann fell one spot from 55th to 56th, as she finished the tournament with an overall score of 249 for 33-over-par.
The host team, Toledo, won the tournament and also featured the top three individual finishers.
Sophomore Manisa Isavas won her first title of her NCAA career, finishing four-over-par with an overall score of 220.
Sathika Ruenreong took second with five-over-par, while Jennifer Eisholz placed third after finishing eight-over-par.
“(Toldeo has) a solid team right now,” Ovington said. “They compete with four of five players shooting in the top 10 consistently. They have an outstanding team, and they should be near the top of the Mid-American Conference this season.”
The end of the Rocket Classic also marked the end of the fall season for the Bobcats, which have yet to release their schedule for the spring season.
“I was extremely happy with the season,” Ovington said. “The girls worked extremely hard and stayed focused, and it’s tough having this ending, but we have something to work on and propel us into a successful spring.”
ks363012@ohiou.edu
