GREENVILLE, N.C. - Freshman Georgina Blackman and junior Ellinor Haag shot a 10-over 226, each tying for 19th place and leading the Lady Topper golf team to an 12th place finish at the 18-team Lady Pirate Intercollegiate, hosted by East Carolina, on Tuesday.
"Certainly, we feel like we did not perform up to our standards," said first-year head coach Adam Gary. "The conditions were a little tougher today, but there were some opportunities for us. But, that is going to happen and we'll learn from this result and improve on it going forward into some very competitive events still this fall."
It was the first 54-hole event of the fall season for WKU and their fourth event of the campaign. WKU tallied a 58-over 922 (302-309-311) in the event. The Lady Toppers had the third-best marks on Par 3 holes, averaging 3.17 strokes, and Par 5 holes, averaging 4.88. They finished with 23 total birdies. Haag had the second-most even-par holes in the event with 39, two behind East Carolina Katie Kirk's 41.
Haag shot 77-75-74 while Blackman went 73-76-77 to hit their 226 total, while senior April Butler tied for 56th with an 18-over 234 (74-81-79). Sophomore Daniela Galassi and junior Michaela Bordeianu tied for 71st with a 23-over 239. Galassi went 78-78-83 while Bordeianu shot 78-80-81.
Georgia Regents University won the event by a 19 stroke margin, tallying an 876 (297-291-288) team score, and placing four individuals in the top 10, including individual medalist Jessica Haigwood who finished at even-par 216 (73-73-70). WKU also finished ahead of Conference USA foe Marshall who finished in 13th place with a 931 (310-309-312) team score.
The Lady Toppers will return to the course on Oct. 20-21 when they travel to the Middle Tennessee Invitational at the Old Fort Golf Club in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
