A third round tied for third-best in Ohio history propelled the Bobcats to a second-place finish at the Lady Colonel Classic in Richmond, Kentucky, and, for the first time all season, there was a new golfer with the low score.
After a 315 first round score, the Bobcats made improvements in the next two rounds, culminating with a third round 292. All five Bobcats had their best, or tied for best, rounds in the final round. Ohio needed all their scores to finish just one stroke ahead of third-place Eastern Kentucky.
Lily Pendy led the Bobcats with her best finish of her career, second-place, just two strokes behind the winner from Ball State. The 9-over-par (222) was the closest score to par for Pendy this season and is the third-straight tournament score that is lower than the previous for her.
Nicole Smiley had the lowest score of the tournament in the third round, shooting a 2-under-par 70. The career-best round propelled Smiley to a fifth-place finish, also the best of her career, and helped her to a career low three-round score.
Normally Hailey Hrynewich is the best performer for the Bobcats, but she could not fully recover from an opening round 80, 8-over-par. Hrynewich bounced back with two rounds of 4-over-par 76, but still tied for her lowest finish of the season in 15th.
The fourth Ohio golfer to finish in the top 20 was Emily Hughes, who tied for 20th with her second-best three-round score of the season, behind only her score from last tournament. Like the other Bobcat golfers, the third round was her best, a one-over-par 73 — her lowest round of the season.
Marissa Balish had a rough tournament for Ohio, finishing tied for 49th and not scoring under 81 in any of the three rounds. Balish had been making solid improvements in the previous two tournaments, including posting her career-low round, but could not replicate the success.
Fellow Mid-American Conference member Ball State won the Lady Colonel Classic by 13 strokes, along with the individual winner, Sydney Anderson.
Ohio returns to the golf course April 8-9 in Bowling Green for the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational, the last tournament before the MAC Tournament on April 21-23.
