RICHMOND, Va. -- Finishing with a seventh-place showing at the Max and Susan Stith Invitational, the Christopher Newport women's golf team posted the finest performance at the tournament since 2019. The Captains fired a 940 (316-312-312) to record the second-lowest 54-hole performance in program history.
Both in relation to par (+76) and in total strokes (940), the Captains etched the 2026 Stith Invitational into the record books for a three-round tournament. The record was set in 2021 at the Golfweek Fall Invitational where CNU shot a 71-over 935.
Continuing to add to the record books throughout the 2025-26 season, the Captains lowered the team's season average to 315.9. That mark is just two-tenths of a stroke behind last year's record-setting 315.7 with one tournament left to play this season.
Three CNU players finished in the top-30 in the 84-player field. Rookie
Maddie Cameron led the team with a top-25 effort, tying for 24th with an 18-over 234 (78-77-79). Just one stroke behind her, seniors
Julia Pelletier and
Katie Watson each tied for 26th at 19-over par. Pelletier shot a 235 (76-78-81) and Watson matched her with a 235 (83-78-74).
Gabi McGehee (+23) tied for 39th with a 239 (82-79-78) and
Sara McCaskill (+40) rounded out the Captains performance with a 256 (80-92-84).
On Monday, the team's played 36 holes and Christopher Newport was in seventh place at the end of the day. On Tuesday, the Captains solidified their position in seventh place with a 24-over 312 as a group in the third and final round. Third-ranked NYU won the tournament with a 15-over 879.
In the opening round, Pelletier led the Captains with a four-over 76 that featured a clean front nine at The Dominion Club in Richmond. Pelletier had one birdie and one bogey on the front with seven pars. She added five pars on the back to post the best first round score for CNU. Cameron was two back of her senior teammate and fired a 78 in the first round with two birdies and ten pars.
Cameron had the best second round, firing a five-over 77 to close out the opening day at nine-over par. The freshman notched two more birdies and nine pars in the second round. Pelletier and Watson fired matching 78's in the second round while McGehee was just one more stroke back with a 79.
Finally,
Katie Watson led the way on Tuesday with a two-over 74 to record a season-best card in her senior year. After opening the round with a bogey, Watson caught fire and dropped in nine pars and two birdies over the next 11 holes. In the final six holes, she tacked on three more pars and rounded out the day with the eighth best score in the tournament on day two. McGehee was six-over in the third round, Cameron seven-over, and Pelletier was nine-over.
The Captains will close out the 2025-26 women's golf regular season at the VSGA Women's Intercollegiate on April 13-14. The tournament will be played at the London Downs GC.
