The Eastern Michigan University women’s golf team finished strong at the Rio Verde Invitational this past weekend in a tie for third place with the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, continuing its success from its last tournament at the Red Rocks Invitational, where it finished in fourth place.
The team didn’t get to play a full three rounds, however. The first round was canceled due to the weather.
“The weather in round one was the worst Arizona weather I have ever seen,” said senior captain Meredith Fairbairn. “The second round was cold and windy and the course was sopping wet, but they did a good job of draining [the course].”
Junior Alyssa Kwon was also disappointed with the weather at the tournament.
“The first day was cancelled due to heavy rainfalls, second day was chilly with the course being really wet,” she said.
The weather did get better for them on the third day. Kwon said it was sunny and nice.
Fairbairn said she was happy with the team’s performance.
“The tournament was great,” she said. “I was happy with my performance; I hit the ball so well and stayed patient the whole weekend. I think the team did really well. We were happy with our finish, even though it’s bitter to see how close we were to victory. But overall, this was a really solid
showing.”
Kwon said the tournament was a lot of fun.
“Our team played solid and shot one of our lowest rounds in a long time,” Kwon said.
Round one results:
• Fairbairn (71)
• Senior Sarah Johnson (73)
• Junior Corey Crossan (75)
• Kwon (76)
• Redshirt sophomore Lois Schoof (83)
Round two results:
• Fairbairn (76)
• Johnson (76)
• Schoof (76)
• Kwon (78)
• Crossan (80)
Fairbairn gave the team a push. She fought for her fifth-place spot on the leaderboard, shooting 3 over par.
Not far behind her was Johnson. She finished in eighth place with a score of 5 over par.
Kwon finished in 32nd place shooting a score of 10 over par, while Crossan finished in 37th place, shooting 11 over par.
Schoof shot a 14 over par score and finished in 62nd place.
Fairbairn said she was sad to come back to Michigan.
“This was one of the hardest tournaments to leave because we had such a fun time, and it definitely lived up to our expectations,” Fairbairn said. “The host families are so great to us and saying goodbye was really emotional for us seniors. They are like family and treat us so well, and make our time so memorable.”
Kwon also expressed sadness about having to come back.
“It is definitely my personal favorite tournament because of that community and the host families,” she said. “It’s great every year, and this year was amazing as well, however, I am sad that three of us won’t be returning next year.”
Northern Arizona University managed to pull away with the tournament win, but the margin was only a few strokes, and they finished with a score of 21 over par.
Savana Bezdicek took first place in the tournament for NAU, finishing at even par.
Xavier University finished in second place with a score of 24 over par. EMU finished only one stroke behind Xavier, scoring a 25 over par.
The team has a bit of a break, but will return from its hiatus March 25 to play in the UALR Golf Classic in Hot Springs, Ark.
