EATONTON, Ga. – Four Monarchs finished in the top-20 as the Old Dominion women's golf team finished as runner-up in the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational hosted by Mercer. ODU recorded a nine-over (297) in the final round of the tournament, played at Great Waters Golf Course.
ODU sat atop the 15-team leaderboard heading into the final round of the three-day tournament, but a three-over (291) Sunday from No. 25 North Florida edged the Monarchs by just two strokes overall.
"Second stinks. We are all here to win and we are disappointed to come up a little short," expressed head coach Mallory Hetzel. "We played our best round of the tournament and it just wasn't enough. Hats off to North Florida as they played a great round, the round of the tournament, today. We will learn a lot from this experience and take away a number of positives. We have a lot of good golf ahead of us."
Recording her best round of the season, junior Jana Melichova led ODU with a one-under 71. Melichova jumped seven spots following her final round, which was highlighted by three birdies and 13 pars, finishing the weekend in a tie for eighth.
Junior Leah Onosato finished the day just three strokes behind her teammate with a three-over 74 to finish seventh, her second-best individual finish as a Monarch. The Kumamoto, Japan native finished the tournament with eight birdies, fourth-most in the field.
Noemie Sudron closed out the tournament in a tie for 15th after carding a 77 in her final round, one stroke better than Saturday's score.
With her best round as a Monarch, Justine Lauer put together a 75, finishing in a tie for 20th. Pilar Muguruza rounded out the ODU lineup, finishing in a tie for 60th with her final-round 80.
In her collegiate debut, Elsie Verhoeven finished with an 87 playing as an individual.
For the tournament, ODU led the way with 170 pars through 54-holes of competition.
To view the final leaderboard with players, click here.
Up Next
ODU will head to the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational on Mar. 9-10, hosted by UTSA.
ODU Lineup
7 Leah Onosato – 73 – 75 - 74
T8 Jana Melichova – 77 – 75 – 71
T15 Noemie Sudron – 72 – 78 - 77
T20 Justine Lauer – 76 – 77 - 75
T60 Pilar Muguruza – 78 – 80 - 83
87 Elsie Verhoeven – 88 – 84 - 87
Team Leaderboard
1 No. 35 North Florida – 302 – 305 – 291 = 898
2 Old Dominion – 298 – 305 – 297 = 900
3 Mercer – 297 – 311 – 294 = 902
4 Kennesaw State – 304 – 302 – 302 = 908
5 Tulane – 312 – 302 – 297 = 911
6 South Dakota State - 307 – 310 – 305 = 922
7 Wisconsin – 308 – 312 – 305 = 925
8 Middle Tennessee – 305 – 314 – 308 = 927
T9 Rutgers - 305 – 319 – 305 = 929
T9 ETSU – 304 – 314 – 311 = 929
11 UNCW – 311 – 315 – 307 = 933
12 Daytona State College – 304 – 325 – 305 = 934
13 Chattanooga – 319 – 317 – 313 = 949
14 Southern Miss – 330 – 315 – 306 = 951
15 JMU – 315 – 320 - 324
Women’s Golf Finish Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational in Second
