by Corina Gebbers
The women’s golf team competed in the Pacific Invitational in Hillsboro, Ore. Sept. 24 and 25, placing second out of seven teams. The Pirates also competed in the Whitman Women’s Invitational Oct. 1 and 2.
The Pacific Invitational was something to be proud of, said Whitworth’s head coach Katie Fuqua said.
“Our opening round went well,” Fuqua said. “We had three girls breaking 80, which is something to be proud of.”
On Saturday, junior Emily Guthrie shot a 73, freshman Nicole Lomax shot a 79, senior Elizabeth Martin shot a 79, senior Haley Owens shot an 87 and sophomore Ashley Danforth shot a 91.
The Pirates battled windy weather on Sunday, but were able to execute and play well. Guthrie shot an 84, Lomax shot an 82, Martin shot an 84, Owens shot an 87 and Danforth shot an 89.
“I am extremely proud of the girls this weekend,” Fuqua said. “They worked very hard and it paid off.”
Guthrie placed second individually in the tournament, shooting 157 over the weekend. Lomax was also a strong competitor, shooting 161 and tying for seventh place. As a team the Pirates shot 655, 26 points behind the winner of the tournament, George Fox University.
“This season will be exciting because we have a strong rivalry with George Fox and the competition is tight this year,” Fuqua said.
After finishing a strong weekend at the Pacific Invitational, the Bucs picked up their clubs again to play the next weekend. The Whitman Women’s Invitational started this past Saturday and continued through Sunday.
After the first round, Martin and Guthrie were tied for second place with scores of 79. Senior Darby Moberg shot an 84, Lomax shot an 86, Owens shot a 90 and sophomore Katie O’Neill shot a 92. As a team, the Pirates placed second with a total score of 328.
“Today we played a new course, one we haven’t seen before,” Guthrie said. “We prefer to be 10 shots better (318) for that is our team record for the year and would like to break that. We played well, but know we can do even better.”
On Sunday Whitworth played at Wine Valley, finishing with a score of 330 and placing second behind Whitman. Guthrie shot a 77, Martin shot an 84, Lomax shot an 85, Owens shot an 84, Moberg shot a 90 and O’Neill shot an 88.
“The girls played great for never playing either of the courses before,” Fuqua said.
Whitworth will play in the NIC Invitational at Avondale in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Oct. 9 and 10. This will be the closest match the Pirates play to Spokane all year.