After a successful fall season, Illinois Wesleyan men’s and women’s golf finished out their competition in Sandestin, Fla. at the highly competitive GolfWeek Invitational. The women finished out the season in tenth place while the men tied for 11th after three days of play.
GolfWeek is a USA TODAY affiliate and hosts several invitationals throughout the year for all divisions. They were the main sponsor for this week’s DIII invitationals in Florida.
GolfWeek boasts a viewership of “65 percent of U.S. golfers,” while their website covers ameteur, collegiate and professional golf competitions.
For the women’s team, sophomores Emma Thorman and Lexi Onsrud have been taking charge so far this season.
By the end of day one, Onsrud turned in 74 strokes on a par-72 green, tying her for fifth place. Thorman carded a 78, followed closely by freshman Jordan Spinks with 79 strokes.
The Titans ended the day in eighth place against 20 opposing teams. With two rounds to go, the Titans returned to the second day ready to keep up the action.
Thorman brought home Wesleyan’s best round of the second day with a four-over of 76 and tying for 27th place. Onsrud and freshman Jaque O’Neill followed closely behind with 77 strokes apiece. Onsrud’s 77-stroke game brought her to 13th overall but she remained the pack leader for the Titans.
Heading out of the final 18 holes, the powerhouse duo of Thorman and Onsrud continued to lead their team with top-25 individual finishes. Thorman struck a one-over 73 on the final day, bringing her 54-hole total to 227 and 18th place. Onsrud followed her lead, tying at 21st place overall with a 77 in her final game and 228 overall.
Emory pulled out a strong final round and took home the gold with a three-day total of 899 strokes, followed by Centre’s 901 and Carnegie Mellon rounding out third place with 902.
The Illinois Wesleyan women broke the top-10, finishing with 933 strokes on 58 holes.
The men’s golf team also travelled to Florida to compete against a stacked roster, including first-ranked Methodist and third-ranked Emory.
Senior Will Nummy led the Titans over the three-day competition, bringing home a 74 on the 71-par course and tied for 29th place individually.
By the end of the first day, the Titans sat in 18th place with a first round total of 305.
Entering the second day on the course, Illinois Wesleyan faced off against 20 schools. Nummy led for the Titans once again, adding a one-under 70 to his total score.
Junior Ethan Wilkins added an even-par, while senior Titans Carl Christiansen and Jimmy Morton each carded one-overs.
By the end of day two, Emory maintained their first place ranking and IWU moved up eight places to round out the Top 10 finishers.
The men wrapped up their season in 11th place overall, losing their tenth place spot to Carnegie Mellon after the third day. But, the Titans didn’t go down without a fight.
Wilkins brought his A-game to the course for the final 18 holes, finishing out in 29th place overall with a 220-stroke competition. Following him were Morton and Nummy with 224-stroke totals and a 46th place tie.
Emory took home the team title with 840-strokes, Methodist brought home a second place score of 853 and Hampden-Sydney swung 868 to finish in third.
Illinois Wesleyan just barely missed the Top-10 mark, ending their fall season in 11th place and a total of 889.
Both golf teams will return to the green in March, following a much-needed break over the winter.