ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Illinois State women's golf squad took fourth place in the two-day Diane Daugherty Invitational hosted at Bogey Creek Golf Course in St. Charles, Missouri, the Redbirds' seventh consecutive top-five finish to a tournament this season, and the 10th top-five finish in the team's last 11 events.
The Redbirds finished with a three-round total of 952 in the cold and windy tournament, just behind Austin Peay's 944 for third place. Missouri State won the event, while South Dakota took second. Indiana State (956), Drake (963), Loyola (966), Creighton (970), Belmont (973), Southern Illinois (976), Ball State (977), Western Michigan (978), Omaha (982), Bradley (984), Northern Iowa (986), and Valparaiso (1050) finished behind the Redbirds.
Leading the way for the Redbirds in the tournament was Ali Schrock, who tied for ninth while Vinisha Gunaseelan – playing as an individual – placed 20th. Emma Rouger and Avalon Woodward shot matching three-round totals, as the pair tied for 20th, while Kehler Koss placed in a tie of 39th, Maria Toledo Bailey tied for 64th, and Kira Wolf – ISU's second individual in the field – tied for 68th.
ISU's leader in the final round was Gunaseelan, who carded a five-over 76, a round that saw her open with back-to-back pars, and sprinkled in three birdies over her round to go with eight pars over her final 18 holes of the tournament.
Woodward, who opened her day on the par-five fifth hole, and started with four pars, a birdie and three bogeys over her opening eight holes, before closing with four pars and a birdie over her last five holes to finish with the six-over 77.
Schrock had a birdie and a dozen pars for her final round, finishing with a seven-over 78, ending the tournament with two birdies over the 54 holes of play.
Rouger, in her second tournament of the year, finished with an eight-over-par 79, a round that saw 10 pars and eight bogeys throughout.
The final scoring round for ISU came from Kehler Koss, whose final-round 81 saw two birdies and eight pars among its 18 holes.
Wolf and Toledo Bailey shot matching 83's on the round, Toledo Bailey finishing with three birdies and seven pars, and Wolf with two birdies and six pars.
After a weekend off, the Redbirds return to the course on Friday, April 8 to compete in the two-day Redbird Spring Invitational hosted at Weibring Golf Club.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
