Women's Golf | September 28
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Northern Illinois University women's golf team recoded its best finish thus far in the fall 2022 campaign as the squad took third overall at The Johnie Imes Invitational, hosted by the University of Missouri at The Club at Old Hawthorne.
Sydney Naro (Toronto, Ontario, Can./Hills International Golf Academy) led the way for NIU tied for sixth as an individual.
"Overall, it was a good tournament. Round two is the kind of golf we know these ladies can play," said NIU head coach
Kim Kester after Wednesday's final round of action.
The Huskies kicked things off in round one with a team card of 15-over 303 before posting a one-under 287 in round two - the best 18-hole score of any team in the tournament and NIU's best round since Feb. 9, 2021 in round three of the Mid-American Challenge. The team wrapped things up on day three 13-over 301 to log a final scorecard of 27-over 891, earning them third overall.
As individuals, Naro paced NIU with a tie for sixth place in the field of 84 student-athletes. Naro accumulated four birdies in round two, her best round, to cement herself just one-over par heading into day three. The graduate student fought back from a double bogey in round three with four birdies to lock in her final card of three-over 219.
Just five strokes behind Naro was
Ahra Ko (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett) who tied for 17
th place. After leading the Huskies alongside Naro at the conclusion of day one, Ko fired a one-over 73 - her best of the tournament. Ko racked up four birdies throughout the tournament to aid the squad.
Tied for 25
th was
Jasmine Ly (Windsor, Ontario, Can./Holy Names High School) who, in round two, posted her best 18-hole score since the Mid-American Challenge last season. Ly was on fire with a four-under 68 card. She's now fired a 68 twice in her Huskie career which is tied for the second-best 18-hole score in program history.
Emily Romancew (Pierrefonds, Quebec, Can./Ecole Secondaire Des Sources) tied for 28
th at 11-over 227 and Jóhanna Lúðvíksdóttir (Reykjavik, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland) posted a 16-over 232.
Karen Liu (Taipei, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal Heping) carded a 249.
The Huskies had the second-best par three average at 3.09 strokes per-hole and garnered 32 birdies, the sixth-most in the field of 15 teams.
"We are still working on putting three rounds together. The weather was a bit more challenging today and the ladies hung tough. It was great to see Syd [Naro] get a top-10 finish."
Mizzou won the tournament at 13-over 877 while Lipscomb took second place at 24-over 888. Sarah Bell of Oral Roberts took first place as an individual four-under 212.
NIU has a much-deserved two weeks off before action ramps back up at the Pat Bradley Invitational. The three-day tournament will run Oct. 15-17 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. and is hosted by Florida International at the Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club.
