GOODYEAR, ARIZ. – The UT Tyler women's golf team made the largest leap of the field up the leaderboard on Saturday at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic with a team score of 291.
That 291 at Palm Valley Golf Club was the second lowest team score posted in the final round, and finished the Patriots in fifth place with a two-round total of 291. UT Tyler defeated 23 West Region foes with that fifth-place finish, and finished as the top Lone Star Conference team in the field after overtaking eight teams on the leaderboard.
The Patriots knocked off the opposing six LSC foes in the field, and featured a pair of top-10 finishers in senior
Raelynn Hardgrave and freshman
Brooke Wagner. Senior
Zoe Mayfield played her best round of the spring semester for UT Tyler in Tuesday's final round, posting a one-under par round of 71 that featured four birdies to go along with three bogeys.
Wagner posted an even-par round of 72 in the final round and Hardgrave a 73 to provide head coach
Grant Spencer with a quality top three scoring rounds. Junior
Kaitlyn Charles finished off the four counting scores on Saturday with a 75 to put the Patriots just three-over par for the round as a team.
Northeastern State was the lone team to best that 291 score for UT Tyler with a 290 to jump three spots on the leaderboard into first place to take home team honors with a 588 (298-290). Faith Kilgore of Colorado Christian took home the individual crown with a seven-under par total of 137 (69-68) for the two rounds.
Hardgrave and Wagner both finished in a tie for 8
th place on the individual leaderboard with a 146 total as Hardgrave posted rounds of 73-73 and Wagner a 74 and a 72. The one-under par final round for Mayfield moved her up 47 spots in the individual standings with a 150 (79-71) total for the two rounds.
Charles finished in a tie for 63
rd place with a 156 (81-75) and sophomore
Julia Kerrigan in a tie for 111
th with a two-round total of 162 (80-82) to round out the Patriot finishers.
UT Tyler matches their fifth-place finish at the Palm Valley Classic with a fourth-place team finish at the 2022 King-Alfred Spring Invitational earlier this week to close out a huge stretch of golf for the team. The Patriots two top five finishes combined with the host of head-to-head victories over West Region and LSC foes in Goodyear will almost assuredly launch the team into direct contention into the NCAA West Regional Championship at Brookside Country Club in Stockton, Calif. on May 2-4.
UT Tyler will have a chance to assure themselves with a birth into that field with a win at the 2022 Lone Star Conference Women's Golf Championships scheduled for Apr. 21-23 at Squaw Valley Golf Course in Glen Rose, Texas.
