The Valparaiso University women’s golf team made a seven-stroke improvement from its Round 1 score on the second and final day of the Dayton Fall Invitational at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio. Sophomore Payton Hodson (Middleton, Wis. / Middleton) boasted the team’s top round on Tuesday.
How It Happened
- Hodson turned in a 74, knocking five strokes off her Round 1 score. She finished the tournament with a 36-hole score of 153 (+13), which puts her in a tie for 13th.
- Senior Kayla Krueger (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake) also posted a Top 25 finish with a pair of sub-80 scores. She carded a 79 in Tuesday’s final round to complete the event at 156 (+13), which put her at t-25.
- Senior Tiffany Curtis (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) posted an 80 on Tuesday to finish third on the team with a 36-hole score of 159 (+19), tied for 38th.
- Valpo’s team score of 313 on Tuesday was seven strokes better than its Monday round. The 36-hole score of 633 (+73) was four strokes ahead of 10th-place Detroit Mercy. The Brown & Gold also topped Northern Kentucky, Ohio Dominican, Chicago State and Eastern Illinois and finished just three strokes behind Ohio.
Inside the Round
- Hodson’s 74 was two strokes better than her previous career low, which she had attained most recently on Sept. 24 in the second round of the MVC Fall Preview.
- In fact, the 74 was the lowest single-round score turned in by a Valpo player this fall and lowest since April 3, 2017, when Kylie Shoemake shot a 73 at the Fort Wayne Classic.
- Hodson’s 36-hole score of 153 cracked the program record book as it is tied for the best 36-hole performance in program history, matching Erika Pfaender from the IPFW Spring Invitational in April 2014. Hodson had the lowest overall score in a 36-hole tournament by any Valpo player since Angie Kim at the Braun Intercollegiate in October 2016.
- The team score of 633 was the fourth-lowest 36-hole tournament score in program history. It marked the team’s best overall score in a 36-hole tournament since a 619 at the Butler Fall Invitational in October 2011.
- Valpo had nine birdies for the tournament, led by Hodson with three.
Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy
“Today was a better day overall. Payton really came through for the team and played a great round of golf with three birdies. I was very happy with Morgan’s improvement from yesterday. We will be putting a lot of time on the green these next four days to get ready for our last tournament of the fall.”
Up Next
Valpo will make its annual appearance in the Braun Intercollegiate for the final tournament of the fall season. The action gets going on Monday, Oct. 21 at Oak Meadow Country Club in Evansville, Ind.
