Cats Victorious in Program Debut

KEWADIN, Mich. – Abilene Christian set the bar high in its first-ever women's golf tournament, winning the A-Ga-Ming Invitational on Monday.
 
The Wildcats finished first with rounds of 289, 282 and 290 for three-under-par and finished 16 strokes ahead of second-place Oakland University in the 13-team field. ACU had three top-five finishers.
 
"Today was such an amazing experience!" said ACU Head Coach Rob Bennett. "To win our very first event in school history is special. We have a phenomenal group of young women that not only excel on the course, but off as well. Our upperclassmen are leading well and the freshmen have proven that they belong. They all showed this week that they were ready to make history and they did it! We have big goals for this season, and to start with a win gives us affirmation that we can compete to win tournaments."
 
Sydney Williams and Ryann Honea finished in a third-place tie at even par (216) to pace the Wildcats. Williams shot 73 in the third round after rounds of 71 and 72 on Sunday. Honea had a 71 and a 74 on Sunday and closed out with a 71 on Monday.
 
Jiyu Han tied for fifth place. She had rounds of 72 and 67 on Sunday and ended with an 80 on Sunday for a three-over-par 219 for the tournament.
 
Kate Pickrell had her second-best round on Monday, shooting 77 after a 78 and 69 on Sunday. She ended in a tie for 11th at eight-over (224). Delaney Martin had her best round on Monday with a 71 after rounds of 75 and 79 on Sunday. Martin tied for 18th at 225 (9-over).
 
Each of the scoring five had their scores included for at least two rounds with Honea and Williams having their scores counted in all three rounds. The worst score of each round is not included in the team score.
 
Competing as individuals only for the tournament were Manon Guille and Mattie Millwee. Guile finished 15th at six-over-par (222) with rounds of 74, 73 and 75. Millwee had rounds of 88, 81 and 84 and tied for 70th.
 
Honea and Martin both had eagles in the third round. Han, Pickrell and Williams led the team with 11 birdies each with Guille adding 10 to the team's total of 59. Honea had eight and Martin and Millwee added four each.
 
The Wildcats return to action on Sept. 25-26 at the Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock.
 
"I am so proud of this group for stepping up and playing without fear this week and for weathering the ups and downs of each round," said Bennett. "They showed a lot of composure and trust in their games which is really nice to see early in the season. We are excited to get back to work and prepare for our next event at Texas Tech so we can continue our journey to a WAC Championship."