Heavy Rain Suspends Final Round as Women Open Golf Season

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

Traveling three hours to the northeast to play in the Lady Paladin Intercollegiate hosted by Furman University, the Mercer women’s golf team had a rough start to their season. Playing in a talented field with fellow A-Sun schools Campbell, Stetson, ETSU, and Kennesaw State, the Bears would finish 16th out of the 17 team field after the tournament ended with two rounds of play.

Despite a hot start for many of girls on Mercer’s five person team, the third round would eventually be halted due to unplayable course conditions with Nova Southeastern University (the leader after two rounds) declared champion. Nova’s top player Sandra Changkija would win the tournament, posting a +3 in two rounds of competition (75, 72).

The heavy rains brought about a reset of the field after an incomplete third round and nullified Mercer’s climb up to 12th place, bringing an abrupt end to their first tournament of the season. France native Leslie Choucard would place the low score of the tournament for the Bears, shooting a +16 (82, 78) for a tie in 43rd. Teammate and senior Monica Kelsey would finish a stroke behind at +17 (81, 80) while the rest of Mercer’s lineup would finish a ways back.

The tournament was the culmination of six rounds worth of qualifying for the five traveling spots on the roster. Before the tournament, head coach Gary Guyer commented, “Qualifying was intense for several members of the team, especially with the freshmen.” He added, “With 12 members on the team competing for five spots, it does create a competitive environment. I told the team to come in with their ‘A’ game as we started qualifying the first day of practice.”

The results of the qualifying were a bit surprising, with freshman and Canadian Kaitlin Marrin playing as the #1 seed. Kelsey, junior Kayli Wicker, senior Alex Quagliata, and Choucard would fill out the remainder of the spots. Marrin would have a tough first collegiate tournament, finishing 89th at +31 (91, 84) despite the excellent qualifying rounds. Playing in her sixth tournament, Wicker struggled with her second round to finish in a tie for 87th at +29 (84, 89). Quagliata would finish with the 3rd best score on the team at +25 (85, 84) in a tie for 81st.

On the positive side, a tough first round set the team back a bit but four of the five women posted better second round numbers than they did in the first round. Guyer’s women must now regroup before their second annual home tournament in two weeks, the Eat A Peach Invitational.

Hosted by Idle Hour Country Club in North Macon, the tournament will draw out some of the best golf competition in the southeast with Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Georgia State, Central Florida, Furman, and in-state rivals Kennesaw State in attendance. The practice round begins on Saturday, October 3rd with the first and second rounds of the tournament played on the following Sunday and Monday. For more details of Mercer’s only home tournament of the season, consult MercerBears.com.