Remember those commercials about how great the golf is in Alabama, how the Robert Trent Jones courses are some of the best to play. Well I’m sure the Lady Bucs enjoyed their time and will remember the course.
The Lady Bucs won their second tournament in program history there, playing at the Silver Lakes Golf Course Calhoun. The Lady Bucs swept the competition winning by eight over second place Jacksonville State and beating third place finisher Birmingham Southern by sixteen strokes.
After taking the lead in the first round of the Gamecock Golf Classic on Monday, the Lady Bucs kept their good game rolling to win.
In winning the tournament the Bucs did what some programs always fall apart on. Many tournaments in golf are won on the second day when the leaders can’t handle the pressure and begin missing easy shots.
“I’m so proud of our team and the steps they are taking.” said Coach Stephanie Reynolds. “We didn’t fold under the pressure of leading after the first day. By going out there and building on our lead, we showed the kind of fighters our players are on the course.”
Junior Ashley Barton, tied for first but lost in the first playoff hole against Marilen Ruiz of Jacksonville State, who was able to birdie the first playoff hole. “It was a battle all the way”Reynolds said in playing against Jacksonville
As a team the Bucs shot extremely well placing three women in the top 10 in the second round of the tournament.
With Tuesday’s excellent play, the women set a new record for low score in a two-day tournament for the school’s women’s golf program.
Barton ended up finishing with a one-over par 74 for the second round, while finishing the tournament at four over, 150. Barton also made big contributions in finishing with nine birdies to lead everyone at the tournament.
Standout freshman Maria Ringdahl finished Tuesday’s round with the second lowest score of the round at even par 73, while finishing third for the tournament at 152.
Ringdahl was also able to contribute significantly by leading in both the par 3 and par 5 scoring for the tournament.
The other freshman on the team, Natalia Giraldo, was able to do just as well finishing tied at fifth in the tournament with a three over par, 76 ,on Tuesday and a 154 overall.
Senior Danielle O’Reilly continued her great playing to finish right off the top ten in twelfth at 158, eight shots behind leaders Barton and Ruiz. In Tuesday’s round O’Reilly shot just five over par to end the round at 78.
The Bucs as a team were able to lead in both par 3 and par 5 scoring, while coming in second in par 4 scoring.
Finishing with 26 total bardies the Lady Bucs led the way with 10 more than anyone else.
The Lady Bucs have won two championships and placed on the top five in nine tournaments. Other top five finishes include third at the Murray State Invitational, fourth at the Great Smokies Women’s Golf Championships, and fifth at the Minnesota Invitational. “This shows where we are going as a program,” Reynolds said.
Behind the Lady Bucs and Jacksonville State, Birmingham Southern was able to finish in third at 630.
New Orleans and South Alabama rounded out the top five finishing 37 and 44 strokes back of the Lady Bucs at 651 and 658 respectively.
The Lady Bucs are headed to Greenville to play in the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate Oct. 11-12 hosted by ECU.
The ETSU women’s golf team left earlier this week for the Gamecock Classic held in Jacksonville, Ala.
The Bucs led the first round over defending champions and host school, Jacksonville State winner of back-to-back championships last year and in 2002.
Last year Jacksonville won the tournament with a four-stroke lead over Murray State led by a team that had all five players finishing in the top 16.
The Bucs shot a team score of 313, 21 over par, for a five-stroke lead on Monday.
The lead was held by an overall strong performance by the team. Four of the five players on the team end up finishing in the top 10 in individual scoring.
Junior Ashley Barton led the Bucs for the first round with a three-over par, 76, tying for top individual honors with Ruiz of Jacksonville State.
Tying for fifth, freshman Giraldo shot five-over, 78, in her first time at the tournament.
Freshman standout Ringdahl was able to finish the round tying for seventh, while senior O’Reilly went in the club house with a seven over par 80, tying for ninth.
Playing in the individual category Laura Diaz shot a 12 over par 85 to tie at 32.
The Lady Bucs will now head to the Lady Pirate Fall Tournament in Greeneville, N.C. on Oct. 11. ETSU will try to make this their second tournament win of the season.
A second tournament win in a season would be a record for the Lady Bucs.
Ashley Barton will be looking for another first place finish.

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