After the home opening win last week, NDSU Women’s Golf headed south to Springfield, Missouri, to play in the Payne Stewart Memorial hosted by Missouri State University. The tournament honored legendary golfer Payne Stewart, who won eleven PGA tour events and three major championships.  Unfortunately, at only 42, Stewart was killed in a plane crash that claimed five other lives.

The memorial tournament was held on Sept. 9 and 10 at the Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield. Twelve teams were invited to the tournament. North Dakota State beat all schools but Omaha, which finished first at +20. NDSU tied Oral Roberts for second, finishing at +29. The Bison finished ahead of the host school, Missouri State, which came in fourth with a score of +38. This was another successful tournament for the Women’s Golf team, continuing to shine early in the season.

Day One

The ladies played two rounds on the first day in Springfield. In the first round, NDSU would finish the morning in fourth place with a team score of 297. Norah Roberts would be the highest-ranking Bison in round one with a 72 (+1), her round one performance highlighted by her ten birdies and four birdies. Hannah Dunk would follow behind Roberts with a 74(+3); Dunk had four birdies and eight pars in the opening round. Madi Hicks would shoot a 75 (+4), with only two birdies in round one, but she would find double-digit pars with ten. Elise Hoven finished one stroke behind Hicks with a 76 (+5), Hoven shot one birdie, but she would also tie with Cora Larson, who shot 77 (+6) for the most pars through the first 18 holes with 12. 

The second round on day one was North Dakota State’s best round, with a team score of 288. The critical factor in the Bison’s success in the later round was their consistency as a team. NDSU led all schools in round two in birdies with a combined total of 65 compared to the team’s 52 in round one. You can see why they were vastly improved in round two. Cora Larson led the green and yellow in pars in round two; with her 14 pars and two birdies, she would shoot a 71(E). Norah Roberts and Elise Hoven would both shoot a 72 (+1). Roberts would stay consistent with her score in both rounds on day one; in round two, she would shoot twelve pars with only one birdie.  Roberts would also shoot one of two Bison eagles on the final hole of day one, claiming what is most likely NDSU’s day one highlight. Hoven would shoot 13 pars and two birdies on her way to her +1 round two. Madi Hicks would shoot a 73(+2), improving on her score from round one; she did this with 13 pars and two birdies. Hannah Dunk would cap off a successful day for North Dakota State with a 75 (+4), one bride, and 13 pars. An extremely successful day for NDSU saw lots of consistency and improvement throughout the day.

Day Two

On the final day in Springfield, the Bison would take a slight step back from round two on day one but finish slightly ahead of their score from the first round. North Dakota State would shoot 296 in round three. The Bison shot 58 total pars as a team but only eight birdies. Leading NDSU on day two was Hannah Dunk, who shot even at 71. Dunk would see 13 pars and one birdie in round three. But like Norah Roberts in round two, Dunk would shoot NDSU’s second eagle of the day on the last hole!! Roberts would fall behind Dunk with a 73 (+2). She would tie Dunk with 13 pars but find one more birdie than Dunk. Cora Larson and Madi Hicks would both shoot a 76 (+5) in round 3. They would both have ten pars each. However, Larson would finish with three birdies compared to Hicks’s two in round three. Finally, the last Bison on day two was Elise Hoven; she would shoot a 77(+6) with 13 pars and no birdies. The fantastic performance from all five Bison on day two was needed to secure the tie for second in the tournament. 

In total, the five Bison finished:

Norah Roberts, in 4th place, shooting 217 (+4)

Hannah Dunk, tied for 7th, shooting 220 (+7)

Madi Hicks, tied for 9th, shooting 224 (+11)

Cora Larson, tied for 9th, shooting 224 (+11)

Elise Hoven, in 12th place, shooting 225 (+12)

NDSU Women’s Golf will continue the season at the Eagle Invitation in Worley, Idaho, on Sept. 22 and 23.