BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (4/10/2022) -- Graduate seniors
Alexa Hatz and
Kendall Payne were all over the top of the leaderboard and earned top-10 finishes as the University of Detroit Mercy women's golf team wrapped up the regular season with the final round of Bowling Green's Dolores Black Falcon Invitational on Sunday.
Hatz tied for first in the event with a career-best 146 (74-72) as she tied her career-low with an even-par 72 on the day before heading to a playoff, where she fell on the fourth playoff hole. It was the second-straight year a Titan was runner-up at BGSU as Payne was second last year as well as the second time Hatz has been runner-up as she tied for second at NKU last year.
She started the day with a birdie and then parred her next eight holes. She then added two more birdies and four more pars the rest of the way to shoot her career-best and earn a trip to the playoff in a three-way tie. Hatz would lead the event with eight birdies and was first among the competition in scoring average on the par 5's (-3, 4.63) and tied for second on the par 4's (+2, 4.10).
Payne shared sixth with a 149 (73-76), starting the tournament by tying her career-low with the 1-over 73. She began her final 18 with six pars and a birdie and had 13 pars overall in the round. She led the team with 25 pars, tied for the fourth most, while knocking in four birdies and tying for second in the field with a -1, 2.88 average on the par 3's.
Graduate senior
Shana Murphy tied for 32nd with a 159 (81-78) as she had 13 pars in the final round, while sophomore
Sophia Ubaydi, playing as an individual, shared 41st with a career-best 161 (79-82), which included her career-low 78 in the first round.
Overall, the Titans earned fourth with a 619 (310-309) at the par 72, 5,829-yard Stone Ridge Golf Club, besting a pair of Horizon League schools in Oakland and Youngstown State as well as three in-state programs in Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.
The 619 is tied for the third-best mark on the season as well as tied for the 13th best in school history. Detroit Mercy started the year with a 618 at the Roseann Schwartz Invite and then had a 619 at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational before ending the fall with a 616 at the Dayton Fall Invite.
Detroit Mercy will now get ready for the Horizon League Championships, set for April 24-26 at Mission Inn Resort's Las Colinas Course in Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida.
