SMITHVILLE, Mo.—The UIndy women's golf team wrapped up a long and challenging stay Sunday at the GLVC Championships. Enduring windy conditions, record-low temperatures, a frost delay and even some snow over the last few days, the Greyhounds advanced all the way to the conference final before dropping a tight match to Illinois Springfield, 3-2.
Hosted at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville, Mo., the annual conference championships included 54 holes of play Friday and Saturday, followed by three medal/match play rounds on Sunday – two semifinals and the final.
After dispensing of Drury in the morning semis, the Hounds matched up with a UIS squad that defeated two-seed Missouri-St. Louis in its semifinal matchup. The Prairie Stars managed a pair of one-stroke wins in the finals to help secure the title.
Freshman
Ava Ray and senior
Katelyn Skinner each won their respective pairing to earn points for the Hounds. In her GLVC Championships debut, Ray shot even par on the back nine Sunday afternoon to pull away for an impressive 13-stroke the win. Meanwhile, Skinner, who yesterday secured the GLVC individual medal, came back from an early three-stroke deficit to beat Isabel Segal by a single stroke.
Sunday's result snapped a streak of 10 consecutive GLVC titles for UIndy.
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds await the release of the 2023 NCAA DII Championships field on Monday, May 1. The Greyhounds are well positioned to make their 16th consecutive NCAA regional.
SEMIFINAL
The Greyhounds swept past fourth-seeded Drury in the morning semifinal, as all five Hounds won their pairing. Skinner carded the lowest round of the semis with an even-par 72, while Graf compiled the largest margin of victory (13).
SATURDAY
Led by medalist
Katelyn Skinner, the UIndy women's golf team wrapped up a dominating 54 holes of stroke play at the GLVC Championships. The Greyhounds hung the lowest team score in all three rounds, outpacing the field by 47 strokes to easily snatch the top seed in the upcoming medal/match play semifinals.
Skinner crafted a stellar performance during stroke play to secure the conference individual medal. The Evansville, Ind., native finished at even par for 54 holes, carding scores of 70-75-71. Battling cold and windy conditions Sunday, even a bout with snow, Skinner played three-under golf for the final 12 holes to squelch any ideas of a comeback from the field. She is the program's 10th player to earn medalist honors at the conference tournament. A Greyhound has earned the individual crown in seven of the last 10 GLVC Championships.
Teammate
Catharina Graf was one of those conference medalists. The German import followed her 2022 individual title by sharing the runner-up spot this year. Graf finished at +8 to tie for second with Lewis' Kendall Farm and grab All-GLVC honors as a top-five finisher.
Elyse Stasil garnered her third straight All-GLVC nod with a fourth-place showing at +10. Freshman
Ava Ray finished one stroke out of the top five, settling at +12 and T-6. Sophomore
Anci Dy (+13) was right behind at T-8.
FRIDAY
The UIndy women's golf team kicked off its conference title defense Friday with a solid opening day at the 2023 GLVC Championships. Topping the leaderboard after 36 holes, the Greyhounds (+21) look to remain in a top-four spot after Saturday's final round of stroke play to advance the medal/match play semifinals on Sunday morning.
With individual-leader
Katelyn Skinner pacing the group, the Hounds set the tone out of the gate. Their opening-round team score of 289 built a 14-stroke lead while also marking the second-lowest single-round team score in the tournament's history (
UIndy – 287, 2018).
Skinner caught absolute fire at one point, ripping off an amazing five consecutive holes on her way to the 18-hole score of -2. Her morning-round 70 matched the program record at the GLVC tournament, tying UIndy-legend Pilar Echeverria and her final-round 70 back in 2018.
The Hounds went on to card the lowest team score in the second round as well (309), extending their lead to 27 strokes with 18 holes of stroke play remaining.
All five Greyhounds are positioned in the top 10 individually, including four at T-5 or better. Skinner sits at +1, five strokes ahead of teammate and defending-medalist
Catharina Graf (+6) in second place. Fifth-year senior
Elyse Stasil (+7) and freshman
Ava Ray (+8) are both in the top five, while sophomore
Anci Dy (+10) parred her final 10 holes of the day to move to T-10.
