GVSU women’s golf wins second straight event

GVL / Emily Frye     
Junior Danielle Crilley sends the ball down the fairway on Sep. 27th.

GVL / Emily Frye Junior Danielle Crilley sends the ball down the fairway on Sep. 27th.

Josh Peick

The Grand Valley State women’s golf team claimed first place for the second straight tournament at the Bing Beall Tournament in Findlay, Ohio, which finished on Monday.

The Lakers shot a combined score of 614, 11 strokes better than the host school Findlay University. GVSU fired a 614 in its win at the Dan Salisbury Memorial Event on Oct. 3 and 4, as well.

The Lakers finished day one of the tournament with a score of 310, tied for first place with Northwood University. On day two on Monday, GVSU pulled away from the field, shooting a 304 – the best aggregate score for any team at Findlay Country Club.

The course at Findlay is known for having thick rough and fast greens. GVSU head coach Rebecca Mailloux had her team prepare for the course throughout the week.

“We worked a lot on hitting some shots out of thicker rough and working on technique,” Mailloux said.

With two consecutive convincing wins, the Lakers seem to have hit their stride. GVSU dropped to a seventh place finish in its first tournament of the fall season, but have since turned things around, stringing together three consecutive finishes of second place or better following its season-opener.

GVSU’s recent success has largely been aided by its lineup consistency. All five Lakers scored in the 70s on day two of the tournament.

The Lakers have had success in second rounds and tough weather conditions all year. Wind whipped on the first day of the tournament, but GVSU managed to battle through the weather and post low scores.

Senior Gabrielle Shipley led the way for the Lakers, earning her first tournament victory of the year by firing a 149 (+5) over two days. The consistency in Shipley’s drives allowed her to play aggressively.

“I capitalized off of my longer drives and I was able to get my approaches close to the hole a couple of times,” Shipley said.

Junior Danielle Crilley finished just behind Shipley in third carding a pair of 77s (154 overall, +10) thanks to a strong short game.

“I’ve been getting up and down and making putts,” Crilley said. “That makes a big difference when you can score like that with your short game.”

Sophomore Samantha Moss and junior Alex Taylor pulled in side-by-side in a tie for ninth place. Taylor shot 77-79, while Moss made adjustments over her rounds, improving from a first-day 81 to a second-day 75.

Freshman Alex Amos rounded out the day for the Lakers. Coming off of her best tournament of the year with a second-place finish in Springfield, Illinois last Sunday, Amos carded a two-day score of 160 (+16), good enough for a tie in 14th place at the Bing Beall Classic.

Freshman Mackenzie Blomberg competed individually for the Lakers. Blomberg shot a 175 over the two days, but her score did not factor into GVSU’s overall total for the tournament.

The Lakers will look to continue the winning streak next week at the University of Dayton Fall Invitational in Kettering, Ohio. The tournament will take place Oct. 19 and 20 at NCR Country Club.