For the second time in three tournaments this fall, the Valparaiso University women’s golf team has put together a 54-hole tournament performance better than any in program history prior to this season. This time the Beacons posted the program’s second-best 54-hole overall score (behind only the record set earlier this season) by compiling a strong team performance at the Butler Fall Invitational, hosted at the par-70, 6010-yard Highland Golf and Country Club in Indianapolis.

How It Happened

• Senior Payton Hodson (Middleton, Wis. / Middleton) led the team with a 77 (+7) in Tuesday’s final round, finishing the event with a team-low tournament score of 230, which put her in a tie for 41^st in an 83-player field.
• Junior Cailey Rooker (St. Joseph, Mich. / St. Joseph) followed Hodson with the team’s second-best 18-hole score on Tuesday. She carded a 78 to finish the tournament second on the squad with a 231, tied for 45^th among all competitors.
• Freshman Anna Fay (Ada, Mich. / Forest Hills) and junior Morgan Kier (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg) also boasted sub-80 rounds on Tuesday by each carding a 79. Fay finished the event with three straight sub-80 rounds for a total of 233 (t-49), while Kier finished at 238 (t-60).
• Freshman Katie Schreiner (Fenton, Mo. / Summit) golfed as an individual this week and finished the tournament at 236. She improved with each round, posting a line of 81-78-77.
• As a team, Valpo carded a 313 on Tuesday to finish the three rounds at 932, topping both Marian and Eastern Illinois. Austin Peay won the 14-team event, while Belmont’s Cameron Fish garnered the top spot on the individual leaderboard.

Inside the Rounds

• Hodson’s overall 54-hole score of 230 cracked the program record book, as she tied for eighth in program history in 54-hole score overall low. She became the second Valpo player to crack the all-time top 10 in that category this season, joining Rooker’s 227 from the Redbird Invitational.
• Rooker’s 231 is the 11^th-best 54-hole score in program history. Prior to this season, only eight 54-hole tournaments of 231 or better had taken place since the program began in 2009. This season, there have been three instances of Valpo players going 231 or better, including two at this week’s event.
• This week’s 54-hole team score marked the second-best in program history, just a stroke behind the program record of 931 set earlier this season at the Redbird Invitational. Prior to this fall, Valpo’s team 54-hole record was 941, a mark the Beacons have beaten twice in three tournaments.
• Valpo had 10 birdies for the tournament, led by Hodson and Rooker with three apiece.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy

“We have some good momentum going. The girls are starting to play consistently. I’m excited to continue on to Bradley later this week.”

Up Next

The Beacons will compete in the Bradley Coyote Creek Classic at Coyote Creek GC in Bartonville, Ill. beginning on Saturday. A link to live scoring via BirdieFire is available on ValpoAthletics.com.