Jaguars finish the Lady Paladin Invitational in sixth place
By Anna Biondolillo | Sports writer
TRAVELERS REST, S.C.—The 52nd annual Lady Paladin Invitational came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 20, with the Augusta University women’s golf team finishing the tournament in sixth place.
Going into the final round, the Jaguars sat in fourth place with Sara Adams and Sofia Valera leading the Jaguars, both being 2 under for the round, which had them in a good position to start the third and final round.
The team started the day off strong, with most of the Jaguars remaining on par for the first couple of holes, but slowly the scores started to rank up with bogeys while other teams kept hitting birdies, which inevitably brought the team's score down two from placing fourth the previous day.
AU ended the tournament at 7 over par after shooting 9 over for the final round. The team understandably was not super enthusiastic about the result.
Looking back at the team’s previous tournament, the Redbird Invitational, which was played in Normal, Ill., on Sept. 13 -14, the same issue that occurred at this tournament seemed to occur—that is, the team struggled down the stretch.
“I think our team has been struggling in the last two tournaments during the final round,” AU assistant coach Ruan Pretorius said. “I think we might just be getting ahead of ourselves, thinking of the score, thinking of other teams a little too much. So with us just getting back to basics and playing our own game, we’ll be perfectly fine.”
Even though the team might not have collectively competed to the level of competitiveness that they wanted to, one player had a standout performance Sunday.
Adams ended the tournament at eleventh place, seven places higher than she finished her second round. In the third round, she bogeyed once, birdied three times and hit one eagle. Compared to her second and first rounds, where she had a few more bogeys, this was a huge improvement. The senior from Whispering Pines, N.C., finished with an overall score of 3 under par.
Augusta University’s Sara Adams putting on the green on the Furman University Golf Course in Travelers Rest, S.C. (photo by Anna Biondolillo/the Bell Ringer
“My first three holes of the tournament were really good and then I hit a big number and just didn’t finish the day well,” Adams said. “But then today I really wanted to chase down those leaders as a team and kind of put myself in the position to carry the team on my back to go low today and luckily, I did. My mindset just had to change to stop messing around and get it done so I just try to play with confidence.”
The rest of the Jaguar team finished as follows: Puntita Pawichai placed 22nd at 2 over, Sofia Valera placed 33rd at 7 over, Danielle Higbee placed 38th at 8 over and McKinley Holding placed 48th at 12 over. Luciana Reis played off the five-woman roster and took 24th place at 3 over.
Alabama won the Furman event at 22 under par, followed by High Point University at 12 under. Host Furman and Xavier of Ohio were next at 3 under par. Old Dominion was fifth at even par.
With the Jaguars' next tournament being played on Oct. 4 - 7, the team will have time to get their confidence back and to focus on their own game, as Coach Pretorius said. The team is set to play in Starkville, Miss., at the Ally golf tournament hosted by Mississippi State. This tournament is one of the team's more important tournaments, as they will face off against larger NCAA Division I programs, including Vanderbilt, Indiana University and the University of Florida.
Contact Anna Biondolillo at abiondolillo@augusta.edu
Luciana Reis is getting ready to tee off on the 16th hole on the Furman University Golf Course in Travelers Rest, S.C. At the top of the page, Puntita Pawichai is teeing off (photos by Anna Biondolillo/the Bell Ringer)
