Women's Golf | September 19, 2017
YORKTOWN, Indiana—Head coach Sara Robson saw a lot to like in her Austin Peay State University women's golf team at the Cardinal Classic, Tuesday, hosted by Ball State at the Players Club.
Austin Peay's final-round 306 left them tied for ninth with host Ball State at 909 (297-306-306). As Robson sees it, a top-10 in a field of this caliber is a great sign for a veteran Governors squad as it begins preparation for its annual home meet.
"To finish top-10 in this field, I'm pretty pleased," Robson said. "We played really well the first round and fairly well the last round and struggled a bit in the middle. There are a lot of positives to take away from this week. We hit some good shots into greens to set ourselves up for birdie."
The leader in the clubhouse for Austin Peay was junior Ashton Goodley, whose final-round 76 gave her a 222 for the week and a share of 20th place. She closed the tournament by shooting par on 14 of 18 holes during the final round.
Taylor Goodley's 74 on the final 18 holes was best by a Governor on Tuesday; she finished 29th with a 3.11 stroke average on par-3 holes tied with her sister for best by an APSU athlete during the tournament.
The third spot on the Governor card was sophomore Meghann Stamps, whose used a team-high eight birdies to craft a 233 (80-75-78), tied for 61st.
"I thought Taylor played really well today," Robson said. "Meghann was close to having extremely good rounds yesterday and today. A couple of swings today got her in trouble, but she may start shooting in the mid-to-low-70s soon."
Freshman Riley Cooper (77-78-81) and senior AnnaMichelle Moore (76-82-78) closed the book for the Govs; both shot matching 236 scores for the Governors, with Cooper canning a team-high 36 pars.
"We showed a lot of determination this week," Robson said. "Our short games were amazing in the first round; we missed some putts in the second and had to battle today. But it's great that a round that could be considered 'struggling' is a 306. We've come a long way and we've got a strong team this year. We'll keep working and trying to peak at the right times."
Indianapolis (283-286-294-863) won the event, followed by Bradley (876), Akron (883), Toledo (886) and Southern Illinois (889) to round out the top-five.
The Cardinal Classic puts a wrap on the Austin Peay September slate; the Governors return to action with their annual home event, the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate, Oct. 2-3, at the Clarksville Country Club.
