Missouri State University

The Missouri State women’s golf team finished tied for third place on Tuesday in the Baylor Spring Invitational.  The Bears posted the best team score of the day, 310, to finish tied with tournament host, Baylor at 933 for three rounds.  The 54-hole tournament, comprised of 14 teams, was played on the par 72, Twin Rivers Golf Club in Waco, Texas.

The Bears finished six strokes behind tournament champion and conference competitor Illinois State.  The Redbirds won by three strokes with a 54-hole team total of 927.  Placing second as a team was New Mexico State at 931.

Senior captain Amy Phalajivin led the team for the tournament with a 54-hole total of 230.  She fired a third round score of 79 to finish tied in eighth place for the tournament individually.  Junior Stacey Rodger and freshman Kelsey Welber tied for 20^th place, each shooting four-over-par, 76, to finish at 234.  One stroke back at 235 was freshman Catherine Dolan who shot 79 in the final round.  She placed tied in 23^rd individually.  Freshman teammate Emily Potts carded an 87 to finish tied in 70^th place at 256.  Senior Lindsey Wellenstein also competed for the Bears as an individual.  Wellenstein shot 96 for the final 18 holes and finished with a 54-hole total of 267 to finish tied in 78^th place.

The Bears’ women are idle for a week and then travel to Little Rock, Ark. to compete in the UALR Classic on March 30-31.  The tournament has a scheduled start time of 8:30 a.m.

Day 1 Recap

After the first day of the Baylor Spring Invitational, the team competition was tightly packed. Only eight strokes separated the Bears at 623 and first-place Illinois State at 615.  The Bears also trailed tournament host, Baylor which entered the final day of competition in second at 617 and New Mexico State with 619 strokes in third.  Texas at San Antonio and Iowa finished tied in fourth, at 622. 

For the first 36 holes of competition, Phalajivin led the Bears.  She finished the first day tied in sixth place individually with 18-hole rounds of 73-78.  In a tie for 19^th individually after 36 holes was Dolan who carded consecutive rounds of 78.  Welber and junior Rodger were third for the Bears and finished two strokes behind Dolan.  Welber shot 18-hole scores of 77-81 and Rodger posted rounds of 78-80.  The two were tied for 32^nd place after the first day. 

Potts shot 86-83 to enter the final round tied in 70^th place.  Competing as an individual for the women, Wellenstein shot 91 in the morning round and recovered with a 79 for the second round of the 36-hole day.  She finished tied for 72^nd individually.