Women’s Golf team slips three spots to 8th place finish at Lady Seahawk Invitational

The Western Carolina women’s golf team struggled on the second day of the Lady Seahawk Invitational, and as a result slipped from 5th place to 8th place. The tournament, held at River Landing Golf Club in Wallace, NC during March 26 and 27, did showcase what was a strong performance by senior Bianca Melone. Melone shot a three-round total of 223 and finished in a tie for sixth place. Melone opened up the tourney with a 73 before firing 75 on the second and third rounds. Junior Emily Klein of UNC-Wilmington won the individual title as she finished 11 strokes ahead of Melone. UNCW also took home second place as Carmen Perez-Narbon finished four strokes behind Klein’s 212. Junior Malin Fryk was another strong performer for the Catamounts. Fryk tied for 17th place as she shot a 75 and 74 before slipping to 80 in the third round. Freshman Desiree Karlsson tied for 38th as she shot a 235. Karlsson fired a 75 in the second round, but a third-round 82 was her undoing. Elin Mickelsson and Kandy Carland were the final two Catamount finishers. Mickelsson finished tied for 68th with a 247, while Carland finished tied for 74th with a 251. The Lady Catamounts finished with a three-round total of 934 as they shot a 307, 306, and unfortunately a third-round score of 321. Had Western fired a 308 then they could have tied for 6th place, but 8th place is still a strong finish. Western beat out the University of Kentucky and six other schools. UNC-Wilmington used home-field advantage to win the tournament. The Seahawks shot an 888 to finish 46 strokes ahead of WCU and 13 strokes ahead of second place-finisher East Tennessee State. The Lady Cats next tourney is on March 2 at the John Kirk/Lady Panter Collegiate in Atlanta.