It wasn’t one of the better days the Kansas Wesleyan women’s golf team has had of late.
It was good enough, though, to win the tournament played on the Coyotes’ home course and that’s worth plenty.
Led by Abby Donovan (FR/Concordia, Kan.)’s second-place finish and fourth-place finishes from Hannah Hart (SO/Ventura, Calif.) and Kristen Sayyalinh (JR/Rockford, Ill.) they edged Bethany by one stroke (654-655) and won the eight-team, two-day KWU Fall Invitational that concluded Tuesday at Salina Country Club.
“We did not play our best,” Hendrickson said. “We had a couple of really good streaks; we had a couple of rough patches.
“But they were out there to grind it out. Even though they weren’t playing their best they never quit, they tried on every shot, they knew every shot did count.”
Donovan posted a 159 total (84-75) and finished seven strokes behind Bethany’s Ida Lihufvudh. Hart and Sayyalinh shot 163s and Corey Mein (JR/Liberal, Kan.) 169, which tied her for 10th.
Aidan Richmond (SO/Keller, Texas) placed 13th with a 173 while Thalia Ramirez (SO/Leawood, Kan.), playing unattached, placed eighth with a 166.
KWU had a three-shot lead over the Swedes (333-336) after Monday’s first round and managed to hang on.
“One of (former KWU coach) Randy Syring‘s most famous sayings is ‘you win some, you learn some,'” Hendrickson said. “Even though we won today, we learned a lot.
“I think we need to take a lot of those lessons from this tournament to be able to turn some of those higher 80s into lower 80s and be able to clean up some shots and learn from our mistakes and play smart.”
Donovan dealt with a balky putter Monday but was determined to overcome it Tuesday.
“Everything else was going pretty good so I just thought I need to be confident in everything I do and everything will just come together at some point,” she said. “Going into today and I told myself I’m not going to be scared with my putts and it really helped me.
“Even though I feel like I could still play better I’m happy with what I did.”
Donovan said she’s using the fall season to prepare for the rigors of the spring that will test her even more in her first year of college golf.
“I feel like the fall for me is a big learning process,” she said. “It’s a lot different than high school, the different courses I’ll be playing and facing different obstacles I didn’t have to do in high school.”
Iowa Lakes Community College place third with a 719 total and Friends fourth at 734.
Next up is Kansas Conference Match Play on October 4-5 at Mariah Hills Golf Course in Dodge City. The Coyotes conclude the fall season with a trip to Mesa, Ariz. to compete in the Benedictine-Mesa Tournament October 24-25.
