The Washington University women’s golf team fell to Lindenwood University on Tuesday in what became a head-to-head match.
The Bears lost to the Lions by 61 strokes (729-668) but showed marked improvement on Tuesday, shooting 32 strokes lower in the second round than they did in the first round as a team. Individual scores fell by an average of five strokes.
“The weather was awful, but we stuck in there. We ended up being the only other team there besides the one that hosted because the other team dropped out, so we were pretty proud of the fact that we stuck in with the weather. We still posted some pretty good scores,” captain Kristina Zeschin, a junior, said.
Zeschin shot a team best 167 over the two-day tournament and shot a team low 79 on Tuesday. She also posted the second lowest score in the 10-golfer field, outshot by only 10 strokes by Lindenwood’s Marcella Ax.
Sophomore Kathleen Pettinato recorded the second-best finish for the Red and Green with a total of 179, good for sixth in the field. Juniors Elizabeth Pfohl, Danielle Prague and Tegan Bukowski rounded out the scoring for Wash. U. Pfohl finished seventh with a two-day total of 188, while Prague finished with 217 strokes. Bukowski rounded out the scoring for the Bears with an 84 on Tuesday after being disqualified on Monday for playing someone else’s ball, but her score was counted over Prague’s on Tuesday.
Sophomore Caroline Larose finished ninth in the tournament with a two-day total of 209 while competing as an individual.
“I think that they exceeded expectations,” Head Coach Sean Curtis said of the season to this point. “If you just go by raw scores, we did break 80 in tournaments three different times. We haven’t had that happen in any competition rounds, so I think that those individual scores show that we’re certainly capable.”
This fall, the team also shot its lowest score in program history, club and varsity, with a 324 at the Maryville Fall Invitational.
“We were able to win a tournament this fall. We’re in the top 50 on Golfstat in Division III, and for a brand new program, that means that we’re better than about 100 other schools, so I’ll take that,” Curtis said.
Golfstat currently ranks the team 48th in Division III out of 139 teams.
“We had nothing to go on, and being in the top half of D-III teams after half a season, that’s a huge boost for us. All we know is what we see at tournaments, so it’s awesome to know that we’re sticking in there with these other teams that have been there for a long time,” Zeschin said.
The golf season will resume with the Maryville Spring Invitational on March 29-30. Although the players will be on their own to do some indoor hitting and conditioning, Curtis also indicated that he and the players will welcome some time off from the links.
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