In the first action of the spring season, the Belles finished in fifth place at the SMSU Invitational at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saint Mary’s sat in sixth place Thursday after turning in a team score of 372, but moved up a spot in the final standings Friday with a 28-stroke improvement, scoring 344.
Saint Mary’s was the lone Div.-III squad competing in the invitational against Div.-II programs. Two Belles finished in the top 25 individually at the event. Senior co-captain Alexi Bown, the winner of the MIAA sportsmanship award in the fall, scored an 89 on her first day and an 87 on her second day to finish in 15th place with an overall score of 176, and the other senior co-captain, Paige Pollak, tied for 17th by scoring a combined 177 in the event.
All of Saint Mary’s eligible golfers in the SMSU Invitational improved on day two from their first-round scores on day one.
In addition to the team-play portion of the event, which took into account the four highest scores of the five eligible golfers, freshman Courtney Carlson and sophomore Katie Zielinski competed in the SMSU Invitational for the Belles as individuals. Carlson finished in 24th with a total score of 181 on both days and Zielinski finished in 34th place with a final score of 205.
The Belles will next tee off at the Saint Joseph Spring Invitational at Sandy Pines Golf Course in DeMotte, Ind., on March 28-29.
