RiverHawks Win Red River Invitational
ADA, Okla. –Northeastern State won the rain-delayed Red River Invitational golf tournament Tuesday by six strokes over Redlands Community College at Oak Hills Country Club.
Only one round was played as the opening round on Monday was postponed due to unplayable conditions on the par 72 course.
The RiverHawks placed four players in the top seven in posting a team score of 320, while Redlands followed at 326 and Midwestern State was third at 332.
“I was proud of our kids, we had some solid play despite the playing conditions,” said Northeastern State golf coach Scott Varner. “We had some good teams in this tournament, including five teams from our conference (Lone Star), Gulf South, MIAA (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) and two-time junior college national champion Redlands. A win in a 12-team field like this is good.”
Kaitlin Higginbotham, of Redlands, fired a 2-over-par 74 to capture medalist honors edging Northeastern State’s Shaunda Petree by two strokes as Petree recorded a 76. Midwestern State's Kyla Whittley was third with a 79.
NSU's Katie Miller tied for fourth with an 80 while teammates Kelsey Kirkpatrick and Liz Cagle tied for seventh at 82.
“The course was just saturated, making the course very difficult and played much longer,” said Varner. “We usually play 5,800 to 6,000 yards but you could add 50-60 yards to the course because of its condition. It was playing like it was 6,500 to 6,700 yards.
“When you hit with a driver, you usually get 50-60 yard roll out. Well, every ball plugged, every tee-ball you hit didn’t go anywhere. So you are losing 40-50 yards on every hole, along with 25-30 mph gusts of wind. The conditions were just really tough.
“Our kids battled, battled and we just won ugly. That’s what we did win ugly,” said Varner.
The NSU coach was pleased with the play of Petree, who termed her play “solid from tee to green.”
“That’s what you want under these conditions and that’s what all the girls did and we won the tournament. They kept the ball in play and relied on the short game. It was probably as good a short-game performance from top to bottom that we’ve had this year and that was the difference,” said Varner.
Team Scoring: Northeastern State 320, Redlands Community College 326, Midwestern State 332, Henderson State 350, Texas A&M-Commerce 351, Arkansas-Fort Smith 353, East Central 367, Rogers State 371, Oklahoma Baptist 374, Southwestern State 380, Lincoln, Mo. 401, Seminole State 403.
Top individuals: 1, Kaitlin Higginbotham (Redlands) 74. 2, Shaunda Petree (Northeastern State) 76. 3, Kyla Whittley (Midwestern State) 79. t4, Katie Miller (Northeastern State), Lindsay Bridwell (Midwestern State) 80.
Other Northeastern State scores: 7, Kelsey Kirkpatrick 82. 7, Liz Cagle 82. 13, Whitney McAteer 86.
