High winds ground Eagles at Mustang Invite

By Kennie Gable

The wind blew the CSC women’s golf team away this weekend as they finished fourth at the Everspring Inn and Suites Mustang Invite in Marshall, Minnesota.

“It was extremely windy,” CSC Head Golf Coach John Ritzen said to CSC Sports Information, “and we didn’t adapt as well as the other teams. This was a great test for us.”

The Eagles performed well during the first day of the tournament. As a team, they shot a total of 310, tying them for first place going into the second day. Jordan Grasis, junior of Yuma, Arizona, led the Eagles going into Sunday after shooting a 75 the day prior. Kinsey Smith, junior of Windsor, Colorado, and Alpine Hickstein, senior of Chadron, also performed well that day shooting a 77 and 78 respectively.

However, Sunday’s round held a challenge for the Eagles. A strong 20 mile-an-hour wind made accurate shooting difficult for the team. After the second day of play, the Eagles had shot a 335 overall, giving them a two-day total of 645, which was good enough to earn them fourth overall.

Hickstein led the Eagles overall with a two-day score of 159 earning her an individual rank of ninth place. Smith also finished well with a two-day score of 161, which was good enough to earn her 15th. Grasis also finished in the top 20 with an individual score of 162, good enough to earn her 18th overall.

“I’m excited to see the ladies continue to compete, because this is a great group,” Ritzen said, “We try to learn from each day, so we’ll reflect and try to improve.”

The Eagles have one more stop for their fall season as they will travel to Pueblo, Colorado, to compete in the Farmers Insurance Sam Proal Invite on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.