WINTERGREEN, Va. - After a three-hole playoff to conclude the Knights Invitational, Hannah Rizzo led the Bridgewater College women's golf team with a runner-up finish and Sophia Martone had the low round of the day to jump into third place. As a team, the Eagles finished their third straight tournament inside the top-3, this time claiming the bronze medal.
 
Rizzo, coming off a career day on Monday, and leading a college tournament for the first time, was destined to face a more challenging round on Tuesday at Stoney Creek Golf Club (Wintergreen, VA). Dealing with an unusual amount of pressure, the sophomore struggled through the first hole of the day and took a triple-bogey. She soon settled into a better routine, but after her tee ball on #10 snuck four inches out of bounds, her seven-stroke lead from the first round had disappeared. 
 
By the time she reached the final hole of regulation, there was a four-way tie atop the leaderboard. Two players fell back, leaving Rizzo and standout player, Caroline Tamburstuen from Averett. With #18 playing 370 into the wind, with a sharp dogleg, there was a clear advantage to the long-hitting Tamburstuen, who hit her drive 260 yards, over the top of the tree in the dogleg; Rizzo, trying just to skirt around the corner tree, hit a limb, leaving 200 into the green. With a rough lie, Rizzo wisely laid up to a preferred number (80 yards) -- and with the green wrapped by 50 spectators, she calmly hit her wedge to two feet, saving par and matching the Averett player.
 
Unfortunately the ensuing playoff would entail playing #18 again, alternating as needed with #10, the hole where Rizzo's tee ball went out of bounds earlier in the day. On the first playoff hole, the Eagle gave up 50 yards from the tee compared to Tamburstuen, but both hit the green and both made par. Moving to #10, both players hit good drives with Tamburstuen 40 yards in front again -- Rizzo missed the green but almost chipped in, while her opponent's birdie putt stopped just short. They then went back to #18 for the third time in an hour -- once again Tamburstuen blasted a drive over the corner, while Rizzo found the rough through the dogleg. For the first time in four attempts (over two days), Rizzo was not able to save par on the challenging hole, and the match was over.
 
"Hannah faced a lot of challenges today -- trying to follow-up a career number, dealing with the pressure of leading for the first time, trying to hold on when the lead was gone, then having to go extra holes with a large gallery of on-lookers," noted head coach John Rogers, "and it had to be exhausting. I know it was nerve-wracking too, but she was a complete champion even if she did not claim the title. She hit so many clutch shots to keep herself in it, and she went three holes in the playoff even though those might have been the two holes she would least want to play again. Her round yesterday was a piece of artwork, and even though the scoring today was not ideal, it still was a masterful performance."
 
Rizzo went 71-85 (+12) on a  course that was penalizing players with brutally high rough. With 89 total players on the course, including men, only three had rounds under par, and Rizzo's first round was the lowest among 43 women, by three strokes. She said that she was not pleased with her score today, but acknowledged how important it was to gain this experience, and she thought she handled the playoff pressure well.
 
The second-lowest round of the tournament went to teammate, Sophia Martone, who followed a forgettable first round with a great bounce-back score of 74 (+2). With the strong finish, Martone, who started the season with a pair of wins, snuck within two strokes of another title, but settled for third. She played the final twelve holes of the Knights Invitational at even par despite a triple and double-bogey. She finished the round with six birdies, including the last two holes. 
 
Junior Emily Price improved by six strokes from the first round to give the Eagles their third score, an 86. She was just +5 through twelve, but gave back nine strokes on the final six holes. Price jumped five spots on the leaderboard Tuesday to finish in the top half of the field (20th).
 
Senior Katie Gaeth was not happy with her ball-striking early in the day and she was +5 after three holes. From there on she played steadily, but like most of the field, she occasionally struggled with the unusually high rough. She closed the tournament with a 90 and finished 25th.
 
Senior Evelyn Hunter was consistent in the tournament and shot 90 both days to finish 22nd. She played as an individual. Freshman Brooke Tyler posted 107 on Tuesday.
 
The Eagles entered the day tied for second among eight teams, but they let Pfeiffer edge them by a shot, and they settled for third. "I think this is the first time we have lost to Pfeiffer," said Rogers, "so it was not the result we were looking for. If we had a bit more consistency in our scoring, and if we had managed the tough conditions a bit better, we could have won this event. Nonetheless, our head-to-head tally so far this season is 19-4, so we're hanging in there. We just have work to do before we return here for the ODAC Championship in April."
 
The Eagles return to action in Williamsburg in two weeks.