OCEAN ISLE, N.C. -- In every tournament the Bridgewater College women's golf team played in the fall, the team scored better in the second round than the first round, and it never finished worse than second place. On Monday in the first round of the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational, the Eagles had their highest team score of the 2022-2023 season (351), and were sitting in 5th place, so they needed a heavy dose of second-round magic; they came through with a 27-stroke improvement on Tuesday to jump to another second place finish, this time at Lion's Paw Golf Links.
 
Senior Savannah Scott led the charge for Bridgewater, posting her second-lowest score of the season, a 77 that did not seem likely early in the round. Scott, who fought her driver in the first round, was not sure what she brought to the table on Tuesday morning and she bogeyed the first two holes. Then she came to the par-3 third hole (which played the second toughest on the course), hit her ball in the water hazard and ended up with a triple-bogey, taking her to five over par before she made it to the fourth tee box. 
 
She had another bogey on #6 to go to +6. But that was when she exhibited her senior leadership and fortitude by playing the remaining holes at -1. "Savannah has a kind of quiet strength," said head coach John Rogers. "and she has been elevating our program for four years. She was a little deflated to open the spring season with a rough round yesterday, but she turned things around, showing once again what a great competitor she is." Scott jumped into a 7th place finish among 74 players.
 
Similarly, senior Madolin Neff had a rough first round, was not full of confidence on the driving range Tuesday morning, and she also tripled the third hole today, to go over par early in the round. And like her teammate, she rallied, playing the final twelve holes at just +3 to post a much-needed 79. A highlight was when Neff hit two long balls to reach the par-5 13th hole a stroke early, leading to a tap-in birdie. Tuesday provided the lowest round of 2022-2023 for Neff, and it earned her a top-10 finish (8th).
 
Sophomore Sophia Martone, the scoring leader for the Eagles, was very pleased with her ball-striking during the second round, commenting that it was as good as she has experienced so far in her college career. She said her short-game caused her to drop some strokes, but she still came in with an 82, and she still led the team this week, finishing in a tie for 5th. Going back to her freshman year, Martone has six straight top-5 finishes and eight top-10 appearances in a row.
 
Shaina Beach hit the ball much better in the second round and followed the team trend of improvement, shaving seven strokes. The senior shot 87 despite a handful of three-putts on the treacherous greens at Lion's Paw. She dropped a 20-footer on #7 for birdie and played well in the closing holes when the Eagles were trying to jump from third place into second.
 
Freshman Emily Price said she struggled to hit solid, accurate shots on Tuesday, but she continued to gain valuable experience in facing the challenges of collegiate golf. She posted 98.
 
Junior Kaitlyn Gaeth shot 94 on Tuesday and she finished sixth among the 12 competitors playing as individuals.
 
"We had very little time to prepare for competition this week since season started just a week ago," noted Rogers, "but yesterday was still surprising in terms of our team turning in such a high score. That's what made today so enjoyable -- we went from 26 strokes over our average yesterday, to a stroke under our average today. We were able to jump three DII teams and actually got within 11 strokes of the leaders, and it showed that our ladies take pride in what they do."
 
Adrian won the 13-team Invitational with 664. With their comeback, the Eagles have finished eight straight tournaments in the top-3.
 
Bridgewater continues its southern swing for spring break with visits to Myrtle Beach and Pinehurst this week in preparation for its next event in Jekyll Island, Georgia.