ATLANTA—The Oglethorpe women's golf team earned three top-five finishes in their four tournament starts this fall, marking one of their most successful fall seasons in recent years.
The ladies finished fourth to end the fall in Rome, Georgia, at the Chick-fil-A Collegiate and earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in Montgomery, Alabama, and Lexington, Kentucky, in the season's first two events in September.
Playing in the best field of the fall season at the Golfweek Fall Invitational in Destin, Florida, the women finished eighth in the elite field of 24 teams in this major national event. That finish, plus the three top-fives, vaulted the Petrels to No. 33 nationally to finish the fall season.
"I am especially proud we are now the eighth-ranked team in our tough south region," commented women's golf coach Mark Random. "We definitely hit our goal of breaking into the top 10 of the south region and just missed out on our drive to the top 25."
The women finished the fall with a 312.78 scoring average, one of the best three lowest in school history, and had an excellent record of 30-18-2 nationally.
Freshman standout Dounia Bezzari earned the No. 15 individual rank in the south region and No. 64 nationally. She carded a phenomenal three top 10's for the fall season, earning two SAA athlete of the week honors along the way.
With an adjusted scoring average of 74.2 and an incredible record of 278-26-7 on the fall, Bezzari solidified herself as a top player across the nation early in her career. Bezzari finished fifth of 120 players in the Golfweek Invitational with rounds of 74-71-74=219, leading to her No. 64 rank overall.
Senior Elizabeth Powell, a two-time All-SAA performer, is currently ranked No. 159 nationally and No. 34 in the south region. She carried a 77.2 adjusted scoring average through the fall season and sports a 230-73-8 overall head-to-head record. Powell posted one top-10 finish, a seventh-place finish at Transylvania's fall event, and two more top-20 finishes this fall.
Freshman McKazlyn Payne checks in at No. 187 overall nationally and No. 42 in the south region. Payne has a 77.9 scoring average in her four starts in the fall. Payne has a season best 16th-place finish in Montgomery and carded three more top-30 or better finishes, building her head-to-head record at 224-84-3.
Bezzari, Powell and Payne give the Petrels three players ranked in the top 200 nationally and around the top 40 regionally for the season.
"We have to be four to five players deep to win conference and advance to the NCAA's this spring," added Head Coach Jim Owen. "We are close to that goal, and we have two quick national major championships at Savannah Harbor and Jekyll Island in early March to take the next step. Two top 10's or better at both and we would be right there knocking on the door of the top 20/25 and really become a threat to win the SAA in Nashville next April."
Freshman Macie Stefano finished 11th in Berry's Chick-fil-A Invitational to end the fall season ranked No. 316 and No. 68 regionally with a 101-84-7 record. She is making strides toward the lineup for the spring.
Junior Abrianna Carstens at No. 374 and Katie Sulko at No. 498 were in the lineup for a significant part of the fall season.
Sophomores Madison Davis, Lexi Sinutko and Morgan McKenzie along with senior Grace Daech who finished the fall in the starting lineup at the Chick-fil-A Invitational, all are capable of sticking in the lineup.
"We have a deep and talented team and expect to have a great spring season," commented Random. "That first conference championship is still out there waiting on us."
