The University of Richmond women’s golf team placed ninth of 15 teams in the 54-hole Sea Best Invitational held in Jacksonville, Fla. on Jan. 27 and 28.
The Spiders jumped back into action for the first time since their high-performance fall season finale at the Lady Blue Hen Invitational held at Rehoboth Beach Country Club on Oct. 19.
In preparation for the tournament, the team wasn’t able to practice as much as they wanted due to weather conditions.
“We haven’t been able to play much in Richmond because of the snow on the ground,” Head Coach Calle Barlow said after the tournament. “These are actually our first three rounds of competition that we’ve played since we’ve been back to school, which is not normal.”
The warm Florida sun shone down as the Spiders took to the course for day one of the event. Sophomore Maya Beasley started the tournament on a high note with an eagle on a par 4, her fourth hole of the first round. She continued to have success with two 1-under-par rounds for the day.
The rest of the team had a successful showing for the day too, with the first round being their best round of the 24-25 season.
“We had a lot of birdies today,” Barlow said. “Seeing putts go in the hole really gives us confidence, and I think that’s why our scores were so much better the first round.”
Beasley continued to pace UR on the second day of the event with an even-par score.
“[Going into day two] I put a lot of pressure on myself but I tried to manage myself so I didn’t get overconfident,” Beasley said. “I was just trying to act like it was another round.”
Fast greens and tricky pins on the course proved to be difficult for the Spiders.
“We saw a lot of tucked pins and pins sitting on odd noles so you couldn’t tell which way the ball was breaking,” Barlow said
Despite the challenges, UR managed a team score of 29-over-par, the best result the Spiders have seen this season. The team placed ninth, with Beasley tying for seventh with her individual score. Three players achieved their season-high scores.
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The Spiders are already prepared to work on things for the next tournament.
“We’re going to be playing a lot,” Barlow said. “I saw a lot of missed short putts, so we’ll be working on that for the next 19 days.”
The Spiders’ next tournament will be the RiverTowne Invitational in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Feb. 17.
Contact sports editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu
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