By Harold Solomon IV
Sports Editor
The FGCU women’s golf team placed third amongst 17 teams in the 42nd annual Pat Bradley Invitational this past Tuesday. Finishing with a final round 298 (+10), their 54-hole total of 874 (+10) through the event is the second-best outing in the program’s history.
The Eagles entered the final round tied for second with Stetson but were not able to keep pace with the Hatters as they finished with a final round 280 (-8) to take the team championship.
Ailsa Clark, senior, shot a 73 (+1) in the final round and led the Green and Blue with a tie for 13th place and an even par 54-hole score of 216. This is the 12th time in program history that a player finished with that total or higher.
Sarah Edwards, freshman, finished just a stroke behind Clark with a 217 (+1), tying Laura Edmonds for the team’s third-round low of 72 while finishing in a tie for 15th place.
As for the rest of the team, sophomore Laura Edmonds was able to improve each round of the event (75-73-72) and finish tied for 24th. Natalia Nassar, junior, finished in a tie for 31st shooting a 222 (+6) and freshman Isabella Portokalis shot a 232 (+16) to finish in a tie for 67th place.
“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,” FGCU head coach Sarah Trew said. “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.”
With their slate of fall events finished, the FGCU women’s golf team looks to build upon their performances and prepare for the upcoming 2020 spring season.