AIEA and WAIMEA, Haw. – As the fall clouds started to settle on the South Sound last week, the Saint Martin's women's golf team enjoyed the sun of Hawaii and teed off multiple team bests at both the Southwest Air HPU Shootout and the Dennis Rose Invitational.
After a tough day one at the HPU Shootout, the Saints shaved 18 strokes off their score for round two, despite some wind playing tricks on the course. Both Kelsie Inouye and Katherine Swor ran neck-and-neck in the top of the pack for the Saints with each getting an 81 in the first round and a 78 in the second. Kathryn Crimp was just one stroke behind them with a 160 overall but shot a team-best 77 on day two. Ashley Bruland lowered her score by five strokes on day two, while Jada French shaved off a whopping eight strokes between the two rounds.
"I'm proud of how the team battled back and posted a score of 313 in round two, tying our lowest team score of the fall season. Conditions were challenging and the wind was up so it was great to see them continue to push through to the final shot," said Head Coach Anne Bahr, "All five of our players lowered their round two scores by three strokes or more which is always one of our goals heading into day two of any tournament."
As the action moved to the Big Island, Inouye continued to thrive in her home state. Tallying a 78 in the first round, the freshman turned a lot of heads in the second round, notching a 72, which was good for the fifth-best score by any golfer on day two. Improvement was clearly another theme of the day, as the Saints once cut double-digit strokes off of their round one performance and shooting another team-low on the season to a tune of a 304. Bruland cut four strokes off her score, while Swor notched her score down five strokes to help lead to the improvement.
"I'm proud to have the team finish our fall season on a high note, shooting our new low of 304 in the final round on Saturday at the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate," remarked Coach Bahr, "Both Kelsie Inouye and Ashley Bruland posted their collegiate lows during the second round. I'm so happy for both of them, and to have them make an impact on our program right away as freshmen is great. For seniors Katherine Swor, Kathryn Crimp, and Jada French, I know these two tournaments meant a lot to them and I couldn't have asked for anything more than to see them continue to play well and contribute to our team's success. I can't thank the team enough for a great fall season and am looking forward to taking some time this off season to sharpen specific parts of our game in order to hit the ground running in February."
SMU has landed back on the mainland and will now anxiously await the spring season, which is only a few months away.
