ORLANDO, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team recorded its lowest team score since the Nittany Lion Invitational back in September with a 1-under, 287, during the second round at the UCF Challenge on Monday morning. The Nittany Lions failed to move up the leaderboard, however, during the third round of play, which was moved up to Monday afternoon due to impending weather and stretched into Tuesday morning, carding a 9-over, 287, in the final round to finish the week 18th.
Wake Forest used an eye-popping 19-under, 269, during the second round to race ahead of the field and the Demon Deacons coasted to a 14-shot victory finishing the week 45-under following a 15-under final round. Kentucky finished second at 31-under while Virginia (27-under), College of Charleston (19-under) and Auburn (16-under) rounded out the top-five.
"We were four-under as a team over our last five holes this morning, so I'm proud of the way we finished," mentioned head coach Denise St. Pierre. "I liked the way our freshmen played this week for their first time at this tournament."
Freshman Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) had a strong week highlighted by her bogey-free, 2-under, 70, a career-low score, during the second round on Monday morning. The rookie backed up that performance with a 2-over score in the final round.. Nienhaus finished the week tied for 57th after registered her lowest 54-hole total this season at 3-over, 219.
"It was my main focus today to stay patient and let the birdies come instead of trying to force them," Nienhaus reflected on her second round. "My irons were amazing and my chipping was great. I did a real good job staying focused and laughing my way through the round."
Freshman Katie Scheck (Greensboro, Ga.) and junior Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) each chipped in with even-par rounds of 72 on Monday while senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) and junior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) added identical scores of 1-over, 73.
Delavallade then birdied four of her final five holes on Tuesday morning to turn in a 1-over, 73, in the final round to finish the tournament 1-over, 217, and tied for 45th. Scheck registered a 2-over, 74, in the final round while Dhruva carded a 4-over, 76, to round out the team scores on Tuesday morning as Penn State finished the day 9-over.
Playing as an individual, freshman Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) tied her low round of the season with back-to-back rounds of 2-over, 74, to close out the tournament.
The Nittany Lions will take the next month off from competition before returning to the Sunshine State for the North Florida Invitational on March 7-8.
Final Results
