The Rutgers women's golf team finished in fifth place at the Nittany Lion Invitational hosted by Penn State. After holding a sixth-place score at the end of the first day of competition, the Scarlet Knights fought hard to move themselves into their third straight top-five finish to start the 2017 season.
Shooting a season-low 894 (298-301-295) as a team, Rutgers had a strong showing in the 15-team tournament. Maryland took first place behind the commanding play of freshman Laura Van Respaille, who shot 212 (74-68-70) and junior Ludovica Farina who shot 216 (71-73-72). The Nittany Lions, Delaware and Princeton rounded out the top-five ahead of the Knights.
Head coach Kari Williams spoke highly of her team and is pleased to see the competition not only with other teams, but internally as well.
Senior co-captain Emily Mills led the way, placing 14th with a score of 221 (74-76-71). Her consistent play kept her in contention for a top-15 performance, sinking seven birdies in the three rounds. This is her third straight top-20 performance and the 18th of her Rutgers career.
Finishing right behind Mills was freshman Lori Char with a score of 222 (75-74-73). In her first time on the traveling team for the Knights, she ascended the leaderboards to finish in 15th.
Sophomore Carrie-Ann Lee also placed in the top-20, finishing tied for 20th place with a score of 224 (78-72-74). Lee competed individually and was tied for the best individual performance with Ashni Dhruva of Penn State and Samantha Staudt of Seton Hall.
Williams spoke on what it means to have underclassmen performing this well this early in the season.
Senior Tatum Jackson finished the tournament tied with fellow freshman teammate Harriet Allsebrook for 29th place. Jackson, after coming off of a score of 81 in her final round performance at the Sunflower Invitational last week, shot a 76 in the final round this weekend. Allsebrook also helped the Knights move up the leaderboards in the last round by shooting a 75.
After having a runner-up performance at Penn State's home course last season, junior Ashleigh Greenham fell to 45th place in the 85-competitor field. Her 230 (76-78-76) is her worst performance of the season, but with two events to go before the fall season ends, Greenham can still make an impact going forward.
With only having two more competitions for the fall golf season, Rutgers will travel to Seattle, Washington to compete in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational on October 10th and 11th. This will be the first time that the Knights will be competing in the event.