NORMAL, Ill. (September 18, 2022) – After improving by 19 strokes as a team from round one to round two, the No. 15 Denison University women’s golf team finished in fourth place out of 15 total teams on Sunday at the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic.
Denison (320-301; 621) shot plus-13 during round two and finished only two strokes behind Central College (308-311; 619) in third place. The tournament host and No. 14 nationally-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (309-299; 608) was second while the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (305-296; 601), which shot the second-lowest total score in tournament history dating back to 2000 and had the lowest score since 2018 (WashU – 588), won the tournament by seven strokes.
After a great round two in which she shot two-under-par, Laine Hursh (79-70; 149) moved up 14 spots on the player leaderboard to finish at plus-five for the tournament and tie for third place, only four strokes out of first place, in a field that featured 99 total golfers.
As big of a jump as Hursh made from round one to round two, Ella McRoberts (80-73; 153) shot one-over on Sunday to move up 16 spots into a tie for eighth place. Additionally, the third Big Red player making a big jump on day two was Kate Griffin (81-77; 157), who moved up nine spots to finish in a six-player tie for 19th.
Rounding out Denison’s team scorers were Isabella Dolan (80-83; 163), who finished alone in 35th, and Lindsey Byer (83-81; 164), who moved up four spots to finish in a six-player tie for 36th.
Julia Shafir (80-80; 160) competed as an individual and finished in a four-player tie for 27th, ranking her fourth among all Big Red golfers for the tournament. Also competing as individuals were Elizabeth Lyon (92-85; 177) and Morgan Gilmore (89-88; 177), who made up two-thirds of a three-player tie for 70th.
As a team, Denison finished second in par-4 scoring (4.36; +36) and was third in par-5 scoring (5.25; +10) while Hursh was tied for first in par-4 scoring (4.15; +3) and was one of only two players in the field with an eagle. McRoberts, meanwhile, tied for third in total pars with 23.
Next up for the Denison women’s golf team in one week will be the Guy & Jeanne Kuhn Memorial Invitational, hosted by Allegheny College, on Sunday, September 25, and Monday, September 26, in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic Final Results