
Flashes move up to sixth-place tie in final round of Betsy Rawls Invitational
10/10/2017 4:33:00 PM | Women's Golf
AUSTIN, Tex. – Kent State finished the final round of the 44th-annual Betsy Rawls Invitational in a tie for sixth place on Tuesday at the University of Texas Golf Club.
After posting rounds of 296 and 295 on Monday, the Golden Flashes moved up one spot from their overnight position, closing with a 21-over-par 309. The three-round total of 36-over matched Texas Tech in sixth. Tournament host Texas finished atop the 15-team leaderboard at 2-over-par,15 shots clear of runner-up Furman.
"This was a tough day with all of the wind, and it got quite a bit colder," said Kent State coach Greg Robertson.
The top individual finisher for Kent State was Michaela Finn (73-70-77–220) in four-way tie for 12th place. Finn closed with a 77 that included birdies at the 387-yard sixth, 379-yard 10th, and 531-yard 14th holes. Texas' Sophia Schubert was medalist at 6-under-par.
Pimnipa Panthong (72-75-75–222) posted her second consecutive round of 75 after for a three-round total of 222 that was put in a tie for 18th. Panthong finished strong after the turn, answering a bogey at 10 with a birdie on the par-five 11th hole, then carding seven consecutive pars for an even-par 36 on the back nine.
Kent State added a 50th-place finish by Karoline Stormo (77-78-75–230), a 63rd-place finish by Kory Nielsen (79-74-82–235), and a 63rd-place finish from Marissa Kirkwood (74-76-85–235).
"We needed some really good rounds to make a (big jump) up the leaderboard, but just about every time we made a birdie, we would give it right back," said Robertson. "Really, the whole week we never quite got going. But we'll be ok. We'll learn from this, get back to work, and be ready to go when we go to Louisville."
Kent State will play in the Cardinal Cup in Louisville Oct. 21-22.