The FGCU women's golf team shot a final round 298 (+10) on Tuesday in the 42nd Annual Pat Bradley Invitational to finish third among 17 teams. Their 54-hole total of 874 (+10) is the second best in program history, just ahead of their 876 from last year's event.
"Hats off to Stetson and Florida Atlantic for their wonderful play," FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. "I think this will be a good learning experience for our program. We definitely know what we need to work on for the spring, but also know that we can be in contention. We really tried out there today, but unfortunately you can't win tournaments with counting scores in the 80s. I truly feel that if we put in the work this offseason that we can do great things this spring."
FGCU finished 17 strokes behind their lowest team score over 54 holes, but just five strokes shy of the lowest score in relation to par. All five of their lowest 54-hole team scores have come in the past year and a half.
Top Five 54-Hole Team Scores
2018-19 - Spring Break Shootout - 857 (+5)
2019-20 - 42nd Annual FIU Pat Bradley - 874 (+10)
2018-19 - 41st Annual FIU Pat Bradley - 876 (+12)
2018-19 - Johnie Imes Invitational - 876 (+12)
2019-20 - Jupiter Women's Invitational - 884 (+32)
The Eagles entered the final round in a tie for second place with Stetson, but the Hatters fired a final round 280 (-8) to claim the team championship by four strokes over Florida Atlantic, who shot an 860 (-4).
Senior Ailsa Clark paced the Green and Blue in the event by finishing with an even par 54-hole score of 216, as she tallied a final round 73 (+1). It was the 12th time in program history that someone has produced that total or better, and she finished in a tie for 13th individually. Additionally, she had just four bogey or worse scores over the whole tournament.
Meanwhile, Sarah Edwards finished just one stroke behind Clark with a 217 (+1). The freshman tied Laura Edmonds for the team's third-round low of 72 (E) and finished in a tie for 15th place on the strength of her team-high three birdies.
Edmonds got better each round of the event (75-73-72). After 11 bogey or worse holes for her through the first three rounds, she had just one on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 24th.
Next Up:
Stay tuned to FGCUathletics.com over the coming months as we will release the 2020 spring schedule.
Individual Results
T-13. Ailsa Clark - 71-72-73---216 (E)
T-15. Sarah Edwards - 72-73-72---217 (+1)
T-24. Laura Edmonds - 75-73-72---220 (+4)
T-31. Natalia Nassar - 70-71-81---222 (+6)
T-67. Isabella Portokalis - 74-77-81---232 (+16)
Team Standings (#GolfStat ranking as of Oct. 15)
1. #112 Stetson - 286-290-280---856 (-8)
2. #127 Florida Atlantic - 285-290-285---860 (-4)
3. #126 FGCU - 287-289-298---874 (+10)
4. #90 Florida International - 287-292-297---876 (+12)
5. #75 Gonzaga - 291-297-289---877 (+13)
6. #145 South Alabama - 283-307-291---881 (+17)
7. #115 UTEP - 296-290-296---882 (+18)
8. #135 Cincinnati - 285-299-300---884 (+20)
9. #119 James Madison - 296-291-300---887 (+23)
10. #151 Georgia State - 297-299-298---894 (+30)
11. #149 Eastern Michigan - 300-300-295---895 (+31)
12. #137 Missouri State - 304-300-295---899 (+35)
13. #152 Jacksonville - 303-297-301---901 (+37)
14. #200 UTRGV - 293-307-304---904 (+40)
15. #113 Northern Arizona - 303-305-302---910 (+46)
16. #194 Texas A&M Corpus Christi - 303-312-298---913 (+49)
17. #209 McNeese State - 296-306-312---914 (+50)
Quotes from Other Coaches:
FAU: "I am incredibly proud of this team and the progress we are making," said head coach Aimee Neff. "We had a record breaking performance as a program and individually this weekend! Justine played phenomenal golf and it was awesome to see her get her first college win just four tournaments into her college career. She is the complete package as a player and as a person. She no doubt just crushed any previous 54-hole record at FAU and is young in her career. She makes everyone around her better.
Gonzaga: "This team is a bunch of fighters and played hard all day," head coach Brad Rickel said. "They are tired from four days of very hot, humid weather, but just kept marching forward. I am proud of how they moved up on the final day. We never really found our footing on the Bermuda greens after not having a practice round day."
Cincinnati: "The team had to battle some tough conditions today," said head coach Janet Carl. "We are very proud of all the effort as the team fought hard until the end. The difference between yesterday and today was simply birdie putts dropping. Today we had a total of nine birdies which hurt us for sure. Out of the top-six teams, next lowest birdie total was 12. The team needs to go out tomorrow with the same strategy and commitment and see if we can get a few more putts to drop. This team just needs to continue to believe in themselves."
Cincinnati: "Very proud of Alyssa and her top-10 finish," said Janet Carol, Cincinnati director of golf. "This tournament was a complete team effort. We are proud of the effort the team gave at this event. We did some great things and I believe the team is learning that they can compete with these teams. We have some things to clean up before our last event of the fall in 10 days."
James Madison: "We didn't quite finish the way we were hoping to today," said head coach Tommy Baker. "But we had a really strong week that we can definitely build on as we get ready to close out the fall season in a couple weeks. We're also excited for Kendall to pick up her first top-10 finish after a great week of play and we're looking forward to seeing her game continue to get stronger."
Georgia State: “Emma (Berlin) came through with a great round today,” head coach Jessica Steward said. “It is great to see her starting to play so well. She is really starting to figure it out. I think that she is going to keep improving and as she learns, will only get better and become a key contributor to our team.
Jacksonville: "This week was a good challenge," said Head Coach Kathryn Dougan. "This group is determined and really held tough all week. We've got a few things to tighten up in practice, but I am excited for where we are headed going into the spring semester."
Northern Arizona: "It was not our best outing," said head women's golf coach Brad Bedortha. "However, now me know what we need to work on in our last practices leading up to the end of the 2019 fall season. I have full faith that we will be able to come out stronger next time out to close the season."
Texas A&M CC: "It was great to see this team finally break 300, said head coach Joni Stephens. "I knew they were capable, but we have been struggling with finishing our rounds and giving up too many strokes from unforced errors. Today they did a great job of staying in the moment and taking care of each shot, and most importantly, we finished strong as a team. We hit more greens today, giving us more birdie opportunities, and we made some crucial saves for par. Brooklyn is continuing her solid play. Her first round 72 came in spite of near heat exhaustion and she fought the second day to bring in a good round with lingering after effects from the heat. Today she was back in good form and brought in her first sub-par round this fall."
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