The Ohio Northern women's golf team shattered its 54-hole school record by 17 strokes, finishing in 19th of 24 teams at the three-day Golfweek NCAA Division III October Classic on Sunday-Tuesday, October 15-17. The tournament is the premier tournament in Division III this fall, as 21 of the 24 teams are either ranked or receiving votes in the Women's Golf Coaches Association national poll.

The Basics

The Polar Bears finished with an 80-over par a 315-319-310—944 for 54 holes.

The 944 beat the previous 54-hole school record of 961 by 17 strokes.

Senior Grace Honigford (West Chester/Lakota East) broke her own individual 54-hole school record by eight shots with a 233.

ONU Record: 24-18

Venue: Baytowne Golf Club - Miramar Beach, Fla.

Results

Ohio Northern finished seven shots ahead of #18 Sewanee (Tenn.) (951) and just one shot behind #24 Wisconsin-Whitewater (943).

Northern defeated California Lutheran and Oglethorpe (Ga.), who are both receiving votes in the WGCA poll.

The Polar Bears also finished within 12 strokes of three other nationally-ranked foes, including #10 Methodist (N.C.) (941), #19 Trinity (Tex.) (936) and #20 Rhodes (Tenn.) (933).

No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) won the tournament with a 54-hole score of 286-297-296--879.

#7 Carnegie (Mellon (Pa.) was second with a 309-296-293--898, #3 Emory (Ga.) was third with a 292-323-293--908 and #14 Illinois Wesleyan was fourth with a 304-307-299--910.

Sydney Kuo of #3 Washington (Mo.) fired a final round 67 to win Medalist honors with a 2-under par 214.

Notables

Senior Grace Honigford (West Chester/Lakota East) led ONU with a 7-over-par 74-76-73—223 on the 5,618-yard course.

Honigford finished tied for 12th place out of 119 golfers individually.

Sophomore Marisa Alfes (Bellbrook) tied for 29th with a 76-77-76—229. Her 229 total was a career-low and was two shots better then the previous school record for 54 holes.

Junior Amelia Burger (Centerville) tied for 51st with a career-low 76-79-78—233.

Senior Torrie Smith (Kokomo, Ind./Western) tied for 115th with an career-low 89-87-83—259.

ONU head coach Chad Bucci is 419-272-2 in his 11th season at the helm of the ONU women's golf team.

Up Next

The Polar Bears have completed their fall schedule. The spring schedule will be announced later this winter.