Great Midwest Championship - Final Combo Results
Great Midwest Championship - Final Team Results
Great Midwest Championship - Final Player Results
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Tough conditions couldn’t slow down the starting five from the University of Findlay as the Oilers conquered the cold to win the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship at Four Bridges Country Club.
The Oilers won the shortened 36-hole tournament with a conference championship record 616 (318-298) while all five players placed within the top seven.
The field of 45 capitalized on forgiving conditions, still chilly, but much more playable with no snow and the sunshine peeking from the clouds on occasion much more frequently than Monday’s frigid first round.
Scores from the student-athletes across the board improved markedly as they played the par-72, 5,811-yard course with precision.
Paced by the conference championship medalist Makenzie Torres of Findlay, the Oilers went into the final round with a 13-stroke lead and watched their eventual margin of victory expand as the day went on.
Torres set a single-round conference championship record with a 71 (-1), the only player to score under par. The junior made up three strokes trailing first-round leader and teammate Samantha Kellstrom; she made three birdies on the back nine and went back-to-back on No. 10 and 11 making the turn.
In all, Torres carded four birdies, including one on the 18th green with a downhill putt, icing on the cake as she won the race for top individual honors with a two-day total of 7-over par 151 (80-71).
After also winning the GLIAC Championship a year ago as a sophomore, the four-time Great Midwest Athlete of the Week Torres is poised to excel in the next phase of the postseason. She led the league in scoring average coming in and lived up to that lofty billing the last two days on the links.
“I stayed focused and made one shot at a time and tried not to make any huge mistakes,” Torres said. “This was a great round for all of us. I’m looking forward for our next step in the next two tournaments and hopefully making it back to nationals.”
The top five finishers (including ties) were recognized during the awards ceremony as members of the all-conference team. The remaining slots will be voted by the league’s coaches with freshman of the year, player of the year and coach of the year awards also determined.
Torres headlined the top six that included Findlay’s Meredith Wipper and Samantha Hatter who tied for runner-up and a three-way tie for fourth that included Trevecca’s Lexie Shaw and Rachael McMahan and another Oiler with Kristina Kniesly in the mix. Kellstrom would finish seventh overall after posting a 77 in a steady snowfall on Monday.
Seven players found their way into the 70’s on Tuesday and after the course yielded just 16 birdies in the first round, 24 were recorded by the field in the final 18 holes.
McMahan and Shaw helped Trevecca finish as the tournament runner-up; the Trojans were the winners of five straight team championship titles in the conference before the arrival of Findlay.
Malone’s Melanie Smith posted one of the best rounds of the day with a 75, 10 strokes of improvement from Monday, to climb into the top 10. Kniesly also chopped of 10 shots from her first-round total.