The Valparaiso University women’s golf team closed out its first tournament of the spring season on Tuesday at the par-71, 6021-yard Jacksonville Beach Golf Course in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. The Beacons were led by Cailey Rooker (St. Joseph, Mich. / St. Joseph) in Tuesday’s round, while Payton Hodson (Middleton, Wis. / Middleton) held the team’s top overall score for the tournament.

How It Happened

• Rooker carded an 80 (+9) to pace the team in Tuesday’s second and final round. She finished the two days with a 36-hole score of 164, tying for 50^th.
• Behind a strong opening round on Monday, Hodson topped the team with a 156 over the two days. She registered a top-20 finish, tying for 17^th.
• Anna Fay (Ada, Mich. / Forest Hills) finished second on the team with a 36-hole score of 163. She also had the second-best round of any Beacon on Tuesday, carding an 81.
• As a team, Valpo finished 10^th of 13 by stroking an identical team score of 325 in each round for a total of 650. The Beacons finished ahead of Western Illinois, Evansville and Eastern Illinois on the team leaderboard.
• Host Butler won the event with a team score of 609, edging IUPUI by one stroke. Ally Ross of the Bulldogs earned medalist honors at 140 (70-70).

Inside the Round

• As a team, Valpo produced 13 birdies for the tournament.
• Rooker paced the team with five birdies, tied for the second-most in the tournament behind only IUPUI’s Blair.
• Rooker had four birdies in Tuesday’s round alone, achieving birdies on the third, sixth, 15^th and 17^th holes, all par 4s.
• Hodson led the team and finished in the top 10 in the tournament in terms of par-3 scoring average at 3.13.

Up Next

The team’s next tournament will begin on Monday, March 28 at the SIU Diane Daugherty Invitational at Bogey Hills CC in Saint Charles, Mo.