VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Old Dominion women's golf team will welcome teams from across the country to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront this weekend as the Monarchs host the Third Annual Evie Odom Invitational at Princess Anne Country Club.
The three-day tournament will run from Friday through Saturday. Each round is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. start with teams teeing off from the first and 10th holes. The par-70 course at Princess Anne has a total yardage of 5,824 and live stats will be available through Golfstat.
In addition to the Monarchs, this year's iteration of the tournament will feature lineups from Chattanooga, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, East Carolina, Furman, Indiana, James Madison, Kent State, Missouri, North Florida, Notre Dame, Penn State, Sacramento State and UCF.
The 15-team field features four programs that won their respective conference tournaments last spring: Charleston won the CAA title, Furman captured the SoCon, Kent State was the Mid-American champion and Sacramento State won the Big Sky. Additionally, 10 of the teams were represented in the NCAA Regionals, with Kent State's Leon Takagi, the MAC Freshman of the Year for 2022-23, advancing to the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This year marks the fifth time that ODU women's golf has hosted a collegiate tournament at the Princess Anne Country Club. Formerly called the Princess Anne Invitational, the event was rebranded as the Evie Odom Invitational after the tournament namesake made the largest one-time donation to a woman's sport in the history of ODU Athletics. Her continued support of both the program and the tournament provides the Monarchs with a tremendous boost in their ability to compete nationally.
Last year's Invitational was moved up a day in an effort to avoid the impact of Hurricane Ian, with the field battling the elements throughout most of the tournament. Despite the challenging conditions, College of Charleston turned in a three-over par 843 to win the team title and Emma Schimpf carded a nine-under 201 to earn individual medalist honors. She held off Minnesota's Mariana Mesones by two strokes, who shot a seven-under 203 to place second. Mesones set a new course record, as well as a program record, with a final round of 62 (-8). The Gophers finished second in the team standings thanks to a 17-under 263 on the final day, marking a course team record.
For ODU, Leah Onosato tied for 22nd with a six-over 216 while Lucia Gonzalez, Minami Kudo and Federica Torre recorded scores of nine-over 219 to tie for 37th. Kudo had the best round for the Monarchs, a four-under 66 for her final lap around the course. Klara Wildhaber tied for 72nd with a 229 and Pilar Muguruza came in 81st with a total of 246. As a team, ODU combined for a 32-over 872 to place 11th.
The Course
Princess Anne Country Club
Par: 70
Yardage: 5,824
ODU Lineup
Carley Rudolf
Klara Wildhaber
Lucia Gonzalez
Puneet Bajwa
Leiu Yuenyong
Faith Garcia*
Minami Kudo*
Sarah Mardani*
*Competing as individuals
Tournament Field
Chattanooga
Coastal Carolina
College of Charleston
East Carolina
Furman
Indiana
James Madison
Kent State
Missouri
North Florida
Notre Dame
Old Dominion
Penn State
Sacramento State
UCF
Women's Golf Hosts Third Annual Evie Odom Invitational This Weekend
