OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. -- Capturing the second straight and eighth overall tournament championship in program history, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's golf team earned a 36-stroke victory at the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational on Tuesday. The Captains (+53) landed five players in the top ten on the individual leaderboard including tournament runner-up in junior
Katie Watson (+8) with a career-low finish.
Watson bested her previous 36-hole scoring record by two strokes in relation to par at eight-over for the tournament. She scored a 152 (78-74) and closed out the event with an incredible run of 11 straight pars. In the second round she had two bogeys and the rest were pars for a two-over 74. It was the best second round score among the 71-player field and the second lowest single round score of her career.
Playing at The Big Cats GCS of Ocean Ridge Plantation in North Carolina, the Captains finished with a 629 (313-316). Joining Watson at the top of the leaderboard on Tuesday was
Elena Rezac with a four-over 76 and three CNU players at +11 with 83's --
Alex Delgado,
Ayla Browning, and
Hannah Willman.
Rezac signed for a four-over 76 on day two with 12 pars and two birdies. She dropped in under par on the 332-yard par four 7th hole and the 431-yard par five 13th. The veteran finished her round with 38 strokes on both the front and back nines.
Delgado had eight pars on Tuesday and Browning had seven pars with a birdie on the 349-yard par four 10th. Willman, who recorded a personal low round of 80 on Monday finished out a career-best 36-hole tournament performance with a 163 (80-83). On Tuesday, Willman started with pars on three of the first four holes and finished with nine in the second round. She trimmed eight strokes off her best 36-hole tournament score previously at +27 with a 19-over effort in North Carolina.
Taylor Davis and
Maggie Umphlet finished at 17-over on day two and
Julia Pelletier added an 18-over 90. Pelletier birdied the par five 13th and tacked on five pars. Umphlet started with four straight pars and had seven in the round. Davis also had seven pars for the Captains to round out the starting five group.
CNU won the Alvernia Fall Invitational to close out the fall season and start the spring with another victory at the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational. Prior to this year, the Captains last won a team tournament title in 2020-21 at the VSGA Women's Intercollegiate. Watson also won the individual title in that event, giving her back-to-back top five finishes.
Full scores and standings will be announced after they are made available by Scoreboard.
