Dalton State got the 2019-20 season off to a great start on Monday and Tuesday, finishing third in the Sand Shark Invitational hosted by South Carolina-Beaufort at Oldfield Golf Club in Okatie, S.C.
#2 Keiser (Fla.) at 880 (+16) finished first, with #3 SCAD-Savannah at 894 (+30) in second. Dalton State at 901 (+37) finished third, ahead of Keiser (Fla.) (B) at 918 (+54). Johnson & Wales (Fla.) at 929 (+65) rounded out the top 5.
ROUND 1
It was a second place finish to the opening round for the #4 Lady Roadrunners as sophomore All-American Cameron Daniel led the way with a 73 (+1).
Freshman Sydney Hermann showed why she was the Oklahoma Class 6A State Champion in 2019 with an opening round 75 (+3).
Matching Hermann with a 75 was All-American Isabel Rijos. Fellow All-American Hannah Gasaway followed suit with a 77 (+5), while redshirt senior Haejin Choe carded a 78 (+6).
Coach McGrew brought two individuals to the tournament in sophomore Katelyn Skiffen and freshman Megan Donahue. Both recorded rounds of 75 in the morning portion of the day.
ROUND 2
Hermann and Gasaway paced the Lady Birds in round two with each posting 75 in different fashion. Hermann opened with birdies on Nos. 1 & 2, but struggled coming in shooting 40. Gasaway made the turn a 5-over then hit two birdies on the back 9 to close at 2-under.
Daniel was next in the clubhouse with a 76 (+4) on a round that featured three birdies, but five bogeys and one double-bogey. Choe and Rijos ended the day with matching 78 as the difficult course showed its teeth in the afternoon round. Donahue and Skiffen posted rounds of 77 & 78 respectively.
ROUND 3
Hermann shot the lowest score of the tournament for the Lady Roadrunners on the final day as she broke par with a 71 (-1) to move up to third place and finish on the All-Tournament team in her first collegiate tournament. Joining her in the top 10 was Gasaway after a round of 73 (+1) that showed her ability to go low with six birdies. Her only hiccup was a nine on the Par 5 No. 4.
Choe shot her round of the tournament with a 74 (+2) on the final day. She began the 18th at even-par, but a closing double-bogey saw her finish at 2-over. The final counting score of the day went to Rijos with a 79. Making the turn at (E), her round got eventful on the back 9 with a 43.
Daniel closed with an 80, while Donahue ended her first tournament as a Lady Roadrunner with a 79 as she finished all three rounds in the 70's. Skiffen finished out the tournament with an 82.
Out of 21 rounds played by the Lady Roadrunners, only one was above the course average of 81.80 for the two-day tournament. The easiest hole on the course was the Par 3, 7th that played as the easiest in rounds one and two and the fourth easiest in round three.
In contrast, the hardest holes were Nos. 5, 10, & 15 that saw a combined 22 birdies in the 206 rounds played. Only one eagle was recorded during the entire tournament and it occurred on No. 11 during round one by Dalton State freshman Sydney Hermann.
Coach Jim McGrew said, "I was really proud of the whole team the last two days. We came down to challenge ourselves against the best teams in the country and we wanted to know where we are and what improvements we need to make.
"I was really impressed with the depth that we showed. Nineteen of the 21 rounds were in the 70's. We still have to eliminate the big numbers and get better from 100 yards in, but I am really excited about the potential of this team. Now, it is about what we do with this potential. Hopefully we will continue to work hard and make the needed improvements."
The #4-ranked Lady Roadrunners will be back on the course on next week when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss. to compete in the Carey Collegiate Classic on September 23 & 24 at Canebrake Country Club.