Women’s Golf Begins Tournament at Loyola
Monday, October 10, 2022
Women’s Golf Begins Tournament at Loyola
Kelsey Eichanauer had a strong day and is tied for the team lead through two rounds.

The Valparaiso University women’s golf team returned to competition on Monday, partaking in the first two rounds of the Loyola Parkinson Invitational, hosted at the par-72, 6041-yard Merit Club in Libertyville, Ill., where pleasant conditions were in the high 60s and low 70s with little cloud cover. A pair of Beacons finished the day narrowly outside the top 10 as sophomore Anna Fay (Ada, Mich. / Forest Hills) and senior Kelsey Eichanauer (North Manchester, Ind. / Manchester) shared the team lead on Day 1.  

How It Happened

  • Fay and Eichenauer each posted sub-80 scores on the opening day of competition. They both carded a 79 in Round 1 before improving to 78 in Round 2 for a 36-hole score of 157. The Beacon duo is part of a tie for 13th in a 41-player field, one stroke behind t-11 and two strokes behind t-8.
  • The next-best Beacon on the first day of action was Madison Keil (LaGrange, Ind. / Lakeland), who turned in an 84 in the opening round before improving to 81 in Round 2 to finish the day at 165 (t-27).
  • As a team, Valpo posted a 326 in the opening round before improving to 319 in Round 2. The Beacons held a three-stroke lead on Missouri Valley Conference instate foe Indiana State through 18 holes before the Sycamores (643) finished the day with a two-stroke lead over the Beacons (645) for fifth on the team leaderboard.

Inside the Rounds

  • Valpo’s best performance of the day came on par-3 holes with a 3.40 average, fourth in the six-team field. Freshman Taylor Skibinski (Michigan City, Ind. / Michigan City) owned a 3.00 average on par 3s to lead the team.
  • Fay thrived on par-4 holes at 4.30, while Eichenauer led the way on par 5s at 5.13.  
  • The team totaled 11 birdies, led by four from Fay.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy

“Today was a good day. Kelsey really stepped up and continued to push herself. I’m very proud of Kelsey. She has worked so hard and has come a long way in the past couple of years. I’m excited to see what she can push herself to accomplish tomorrow.”

Up Next

The event will conclude on Tuesday as Round 3 begins at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.