Eagles Finish Fourth In Minnesota

Contributed Photo

The Chadron State College golf team added 25 strokes to its Saturday total, in the second and final round of the Mustang Invite at Marshall Golf Club in Marshall, Minnesota on Sunday. The Eagles started the day tied for first, but fell to fourth, out of 13 teams, in less than ideal weather conditions.

“Today was extremely windy,” said CSC Head Golf Coach John Ritzen, and we didn’t adapt as well as the other teams. This was a great test for us, and we didn’t step up to the challenge. I’m excited to see the ladies continue to compete, because this is a great group. We try to learn from each day, so we’ll reflect and try to improve, going into Pueblo.”

Through six holes, none of the Eagles’ starting five were more than four over par, but that changed on the back nine. All five players had at least three bogeys and at least one double, with a couple of triples in the mix, coming back to the clubhouse.

CSC, which scored no golfer above an 80 on Saturday, had all five starters, in addition to its two individuals, above that mark on Sunday. The team remained in second, statistically, for most holes at even par, after leading the field on Saturday.

Senior Alpine Hickstein finished at 78-81-159 to tie for ninth individually in a field of 82.

Kinsey Smith, a junior, tied for 15th with scores of 77-84-161. She was one stroke behind the leader on par threes at plus-one.

Also in the top 20 was junior Jordan Grasis, who led the way for the Eagles on day one. She fired 75-87-162, for an 18th place tie.

Augustana, which the Eagles tied for the lead on Saturday, lowered its Sunday scores to win the event at 310-306-616. The Vikings’ Molly Stevens won the individual crown at 76-72-148.

The Eagles have one more stop to make in the fall portion of the schedule. They travel to Pueblo Country Club in Colorado, in just over two weeks, to play in CSU-Pueblo’s Sam Proal Invite.

CSC Individual Scores:
T9, Alpine Hickstein, 78-81-159; T15, Kinsey Smith, 77-84-161; T18, Jordan Grasis, 75-87-162; T22, Kenzey Kanno, 80-83-163; T44, Aubree Heinsma, 87-83-170; T44, Payton Wise, 82-88-170; T64, Allison Acosta, 89-90 179.

Team Scores:
1, Augustana, 310-306-616; 2, Minnesota State “A”, 320-316-636; 3, Concordia-St. Paul, 321-320-641; 4, Chadron State, 310-335-645; 5, Wayne State (Neb.), 323-328-651; 6, Gustavus Adolphus, 330-323-653; 7, Minnesota State “B”, 320-339-659; 8, Sioux Falls, 334-341-675; 9, Southwest Minnesota State, 341-338-679; 10, Minnesota-Crookston, 343-338-681; 11, Bemidji State, 352-334-686; 12, Minnesota State-Moorhead, 351-341-692; 13, Jamestown, 360-357-717.