By Marc Weems
After improving from the first two tournaments, the Youngstown State University women’s golf team finished in first place. Senior Courtney Shutt took home medalist honors at the Marietta Pioneer Classic on Monday. All four YSU golfers finished in the top eight of the individual standings.
Before this tournament, the Penguins finished in fifth in their first tournament of the year at the Oyster Shuck Match Play. They finished 2-1 on the tournament. They defeated The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, 3-2 in the fifth place match.
YSU improved on that mark the next week with a third place in the Seminole State Spring Break event. A solid final round pushed the Penguins from sixth to third place. They had a 13-stroke improvement to get to third place.
In their most recent tournament, the Marietta Pioneer Classic, the Penguins posted a two-round total of 681 as a team to win by an impressive 42 strokes. YSU shot a 355 in brutal weather conditions in the first round on Sunday before turning in an impressive 326 in the final round on Monday. The team’s second-round 326 was the best team score of the event by a staggering 35 strokes.
Shutt took home medalist honors for the first time in her career after shooting a 154 (80-74). The senior shot the lowest individual score in each round to win comfortably by 10 strokes. Her second-round 74 was her third-lowest, single-round score this season.
Shutt has now placed in the top 12 and been YSU’s top finisher in four consecutive stroke play events. The first-place finish is the best by a YSU golfer in 2017-18 and now gives now her three in the top-10 this season.
Freshmen Tori Utrup and Kara Raines each earned the best finishes of their young careers, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Utrup posted a 173 (88-85) while Raines turned in a 174 (92-82). Raines’ second-round 82 is tied for her second best, single-round score this season.
Megan Creager finished in eighth place after carding a 180 (95-85). The junior has now finished in the top 22 in five of the six stroke play events she has competed in this season. Creager’s eighth-place finish is a season-best and her third in the top 20 this season.
YSU will be back in action on April 7 and 8 for the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational at Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green, Ohio.
