GULF BREEZE, Fla. – The Loyola University New Orleans women's golf team traveled to Gulf Breeze, Florida, this week to compete in its last regular-season tournament at Tiger Point Gulf Club. The field of the Argonaut Invitational, which is hosted by the University of West Florida, is made up of one other NAIA opponent and five NCAA Division II counterparts.
Loyola combined to shoot a 43-over (331) score to sit in fifth place out of seven teams, and the team is just nine strokes out of a Top 3 spot while clearing sixth-place Evangel University by 20 strokes. West Florida leads the tournament after a 20-over first-round team score, then it's Union University in second six strokes behind the leader. Both Spring Hill and Christian Brothers shot a team score of 34-over to tie for third place.
The Wolf Pack has four golfers tied at 13th with 10-over (82) rounds, as only eight competitors in the 40-golfer field had a sub-80 first round. Daniella Salazar, Blair McKenzie, Lainey Cristan and Kaitlyn Montoya all had first-round 82s and just two strokes away from a Top 10 spot on the individual leaderboard. All four had 5-over first and second nines, too.
Both Catherine Singletary and Emma Smithers are tied for 29th after rounds of 85 (+13) to finish off Loyola's scoring.
The second and final round is set for Tuesday morning.
Women's Team Leaderboard
1. West Florida – Round 1: 308 (+20)
2. Union (Tenn.) – Round 1: 314 (+26)
T3. Christian Brothers (Tenn.) – Round 1: 322 (+34)
T3. Spring Hill (Ala.) – Round 1: 322 (+34)
5. #12 Loyola – Round 1: 331 (+43)
Women's Individual Leaderboard
1. Brooklyn Verdugo (Union) – Round 1: 73 (+1)
2. Solange Gomez (West Florida) – Round 1: 74 (+2)
3. Alia Scotka (West Florida) – Round 1: 75 (+3)
Loyola Women's Leaderboard
T13. Lainey Cristan – Round 1: 82 (+10)
T13. Daniella Salazar – Round 1: 82 (+10)
T13. Blair McKenzie – Round 1: 82 (+10)
T13. Kaitlyn Montoya (I) – Round 1: 82 (+10)
T29. Emma Smithers – Round 1: 85 (+13)
T29. Catherine Singletary – Round 1: 85 (+13)
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
