James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H.W. Bush from 1989-1993. VP Quayle is considered to be one of the most active Vice Presidents in US history, presiding over the US Senate as well as serving on multiple government councils.
Despite his great many achievements, history, however, will forever remember Quayle for his unfortunate misspelling of the word "potato."
While hosting a spelling bee in New Jersey, VP Quayle told a student to add an "e" to the end of the word. The incident made it on to national television and might have altered the course of political history, with the clip playing into the narrative that Quayle was unfit to be the Vice President.
Misspelling potato, however, doesn't make you unfit to have a golf tournament named after you. And after an excellent outing by the Saint Mary’s golf team, VP emeritus Quayle would be forgiven for spelling Saint Mary’s golf team: W-I-N-N-E-R-S.
The Belles of Saint Mary’s opened the DePauw University Dan Quayle Match Play Invitational (named after the ’69 alum) by shooting a combined 327 strokes, good enough for third of the six teams competing in the invitational.
Senior Erin Bennet had the best outing for the Belles, shooting a 78, which finished fourth overall. Just three strokes behind was senior Katherine Hopkins, who finished tied for eighth with a score of 81. Three Belles tied for 12th with a score of 84: first-year Breana Harrington, first-year Julia Lizak and senior Isa Patacsil. Sophomore Katelyn Tokarz was just one stroke behind the three, adding a score of 85, which tied for 16th.
From the opening round, the invitational moved to a bracket format where Saint Mary’s took on the second-seeded host DePauw Black team placed second with a score of 326. The top-seeded Ohio Northern (319) squad took on Wittenberg (334), while DePauw Gold (350) and Ohio Wesleyan (481) played in the consolation bracket.
Despite boasting the top-performing golfer, who finished stroke play with a 76, the top-seeded Ohio Northern team was upset by the fourth-seeded Wittenberg Tigers. The match was incredibly close and required a hole tiebreaker to decide the winner.
Ohio Northern would go on to win the third-place match against DePauw Gold by a score of 5-0.
On the other side of the bracket, Saint Mary’s knocked off the host DePauw Black team 4-2, advancing to the Championship to face Wittenberg.
The Belles had little difficulty defeating the fourth-seeded Tigers, winning the championship 4.5-1.5.
The invitational victory is the first time the Belles have played since the MIAA End of Season Weekend Jamboree in October, where they placed second and first, respectively.
The Belles will look to carry this momentum with them when they continue their season at the WashU Spring Invite on April 1 and 2. After that, it is off to the MIAA NCAA automatic qualifier on April 11, which will be played here in South Bend at the Elbel Park Golf Course.
