By Jeffrey Smyth
On Sunday, April 19, the KU women’s golf team headed up to Baldwinsville, NY for the Le Moyne College Invitational to compete against numerous amounts of golfers from around the region.
Junior Hope Giordano and sophomore Madison Beer carried the team to a second-place finish by both finishing in the top three on the final day.
The first round on Saturday proved to be a nail-biter as the day ended in a tie for first with West Chester at 344. The Golden Bears shot 339 on Sunday dropping five strokes from the previous day. The Golden Rams played strong Sunday and held on to the win with 333 bringing the total to 677 compared to KU’s 683.
Sunday nerves struck when Beer and Giordano each dropped five strokes. Giordano shot an 80 on the day to squeak into second place with a total of 165 on the weekend. Beer carded an 81 in the final round to total 167, good enough to tie for third place.
Giordano’s performance brought the junior’s scoring average down to 80.2. She leads all KU women in that category through 19 rounds on the season.
Senior Lauren Smith started off strong, finishing in fourth place, but on Sunday only could compile an 88 resulting in a tie for eight with a 173. Madison Houseal put in one of her best tournaments finishing 179, an average of 89.5 per day, placing her also in a tie, this one for 14th place.
KU also sent in two individual competitors in Caitlin Leppert and Christa Golden. Leppert, a freshman, had a phenomenal weekend, stroking an 84 and an 86 to finish in sixth place overall. She hit three birdies throughout the tournament, making her only one of two golfers to do so. Golden was hot too, shooting a 198, good enough for 25th place.
The top golfer through the whole weekend was Gabrielle Couture, who conquered her way with a solid 79 in the first round.
The Golden Bears now play the waiting game as they patiently wait to see an invite come their way to the NCAA Super Regional Championships in Illinois on May 3 until the May 5.
