The Saint Mary’s golf team concluded a largely successful 2022-23 campaign over the weekend at the Franklin Invitational, held at Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana, from April 22 to 23. The Belles placed fourth in the competition, shooting a 336 in the first round before improving to come in with a total score of 319 in the final round. No. 15 Illinois Wesleyan won the event, shooting a 305 in the first round and a 308 in the second.
Freshman Julia Lizak led the way for the Belles, finishing the season with a strong 76 on Saturday. Lizak finished in a tie for seventh place, her best finish of the spring. Erin Bennett just missed cracking the top 10, shooting 39 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday to ultimately finish in 11th place. Bennett lead all St. Mary’s golfers in the tournament with 18 pars, averaging one every other hole. In fact, Bennett finished in a tie for seventh place for most pars among the entire field. Senior Katherine Hopkins also registered a top-20 finish, finishing in 18th place. Hopkins began her final collegiate competition with a birdie on Saturday. She finished tied for third best on par threes during the event as well.
The Belles competed in four events during the spring part of their season and 12th overall in 2022-23. The season did not get off to a fantastic start, with St. Mary’s finishing sixth or lower in four of their first five competitions. However, the Belles finished in at least a tie for fifth place in every event they played in the rest of the way. The Belles finished first on three occasions during the year — the first MIAA Jamboree on Sept. 14, the MIAA End of Season Weekend Jamboree on Oct. 7 to 8 and the DePauw Dan Quayle Match Play Invitational on March 27 to 28. Seven of the Belles’ 11 members are set to return next year, including six underclassmen.
Read More
Trending
