Fitzpatrick, Shukow finish in the top 10

photo courtesy of goxavier.com

Xavier women’s golf trailed by a stroke heading into the final day, but a strong push allowed the Musketeers to emerge victorious in the Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State University.

Through the first two rounds of play, Xavier was +11 over — a stroke behind IUPUI, who led the tournament at +10.

The Musketeers, however, shot a tournament-best 298 as a team on day three (+10) to capture the championship by three strokes.

Xavier was led by a strong performance from graduate student Mikayla Fitzpatrick, who finished in the top five by shooting 218 (+2) for the tournament.

Fitzpatrick was the tournament leader in total pars and was tied for fifth in par-four scoring, shooting +3 on those holes.

As a team, the Musketeers excelled on par-4 holes, leading the tournament with an average of 4.22 on par-4s. Xavier also led the tournament in total pars with 178.

Junior Andie Shukow also excelled for Xavier, shooting 220 (+4).

She totaled seven birdies in the three rounds, en route to an eighth-place finish for the tournament.

Junior Morgan Tinsley was a big reason why Xavier shot even on par-5 holes, as she shot an average of 4.75 (-3) on par-5s.

Her total of 225 (+9) was third on the team and good enough to tie for 20th in the tournament as a whole.

The Redbird Invitational was Xavier’s first tournament of the season. Xavier has  a week off before competing in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail, Colo., from Sept. 23-25.

By Joe Clark | Staff Writer