HARRISONBURG, Va. -- When the Bridgewater College women's golf team stumbled late in the first round on Monday, it looked like it was destined to finish second in its home invitational, and they did, despite an exemplary second round. Likewise, sophomore Sophia Martone dropped five strokes on the final two holes yesterday, which put her five strokes out of the lead -- but her fate was far from determined as she rallied to claim medalist honors in a playoff on Tuesday.
 
During the first round, Martone was -2 through 13 holes and in the lead, but she ran out of steam and dropped seven strokes coming in, which dropped her all the way to sixth. But she came out hot on the scoring-friendly Mountain Course this morning with four birdies in the first six holes. At -3 on the round she was back in the hunt. Despite giving those three shots back, Martone took the lead on 14th hole when the frontrunner, Emily Brubaker of Lynchburg, carded a double bogey.
 
The players matched pars on #15 and #16 before Brubaker dropped a 12-foot birdie putt on #17 to level the match. On the final hole, a short par-4 with the pin tucked behind a water hazard, both players hit long drives and both hit wedge shots within eight feet, a relief to Martone who made double-bogey there yesterday. As a gallery of players and parents watched, both players narrowly missed their birdie putts and they were headed to a playoff.
 
Playing #18 again, Martone and Brubaker both mashed drives to the ideal spot, on the right side of the fairway. Martone hit her approach twelve feet behind the hole and Brubaker's shot looked good too, but it caught the front edge of the green and rolled back down against the collar of rough. Her chip went four feet past, and when she missed the ensuing putt, Martone closed the deal with a two-putt. Both players finished regulation at 149 (+5), and this was the second medal of Martone's short career. "This was a sweet one for sure", said head coach John Rogers,"to see Sophia come back from a rough finish yesterday to beat an elite player was a blast. I mean, Emily is the defending ODAC Champion and was an individual qualifier for the national championship last year. She is tough as nails, but today Sophia was able to come out on top."
 
"I told my dad last week that I was going to win our home tournament," said Martone. "This morning I stepped on the first tee box ready to fight through wind, nerves, and an injury to make it come true. I stayed gritty and I won!!" Rogers recalled Martone nervously confessing that she had never faced the pressure of a playoff before, and commented on what a neat experience it was to watch her commit to each shot in the intense finishing holes. "It's a lot of fun for me to be there during that process too, and she handled it like a champ!"
 
Martone was not alone in stellar play on Tuesday; senior Savannah Scott actually turned in the lowest round of the Bridgewater Invitational and beat her collegiate best by three strokes. Like her teammate, Scott came out of the gate quickly, making an impressive five birdies on the front to turn at -3 (34). The trick was to manage the Lake Course for the back nine, where almost the whole team struggled in the first round -- and she was up to the task. Despite a double-bogey on #10, she played the inward nine at just +2 to turn in a 71, the only red number on the leaderboard this week. "I was really happy with the end result'" said Scott, who is currently third on the career scoring list for Bridgewater. "My putting and irons were the keys to my success today. I had a better feel for the greens today and that helped me make some clutch putts."
 
"Savannah has always had this round in her," added Rogers," it was just a matter of pulling the various parts of the game together. I'm really happy for her to break through with a score like this." Scott was the big mover of the day, jumping seven spots to finish in a tie for 3rd among 37 competitors.
 
Along with the individual achievements on Tuesday, the team posted 309 which is tied for the sixth best round in program history. Helping drive the success was senior Madolin Neff who quietly posted 80-82=162 to finish 14th. Neff played the steadiest among the Eagles and was the one player to stay strong on the challenging Lake Course both days.
 
Freshman Emily Price overcame a slow start on Tuesday to match her own first-round 84, which meant she counted in the team score both days. Price was +7 through eight holes but played the next six holes at +1 to get the round on track.
 
Senior Shaina Beach opened the day with a birdie and turned at just +2. For the second straight day, though, she dropped some strokes on the Lake Course, and she came in at 85, still a five stroke improvement from Monday's round.
 
Both of Bridgewater's individuals moved forward on Tuesday as well -- Evelyn Hunter shaved two strokes en route to a 90. Katie Gaeth gave up seven strokes on the final four holes but still shaved seven strokes from her total (93 for the final round).
 
The Eagles finished 21 strokes behind Lynchburg for the week, but only missed them by two strokes in the final round; Rogers said it was a moral victory given that their opponents will likely be highly ranked when standings come out in a few weeks. Bridgewater finished 28 strokes clear of third-place Marymount. Seven teams competed in the tournament.
 
Bridgewater is scheduled to be back in competition on October 3 at the VSGA Intercollegiate Championship.