Spiders Shoot 8-Over, Finish in Top Half at Kingsmill Intercollegiate

Sunday, September 12

Williamsburg, VA

8:30 AM

University of Richmond

Kingsmill Intercollegiate

Spiders Shoot 8-Over, Finish in Top Half at Kingsmill Intercollegiate

09/13/2021 | Women's Golf

RESULTS Photo Gallery

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- The Richmond Spiders women's golf team combined to shoot 8-over par in the final round of the Kingsmill Intercollegiate on Monday, moving up the leaderboard to finish seventh in the field of 15 on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort.

Playing in her first collegiate tournament, freshman Lauren Jones led Richmond with an even-par 72 Monday. Starting on hole 7, Jones opened with three bogeys in her first four holes but corrected course with birdies on holes 12, 16, 17, and 2. She finished the 54-hole event at 222 (+6), tied for 22nd among 79 players on the individual leaderboard.

"I was really happy with how I played the first 36 holes," said Jones. "I was kind of nervous for that because I haven't really played 36 holes continuously ever before. Most junior golf tournaments aren't 36 holes and then 18 so it's a lot to mentally prepare for and the competition is so much better. It was awesome to play with some really good players."

"I wasn't really worried about her," said Richmond coach Calle Barlow of Jones. "She's a really good ball striker and that's what we need, ball striking. I'm really excited to see where she ends up at the end of the season but she had a great debut as a Spider."

Jones' 22nd-place finish is the best for a Spiders freshman in a season-opening tournament since 2017, when Lizzie Reedy placed seventh in the Navy Fall Invitational. Jones' eight birdies in the event were five more than any other Spider.

Jones finished one shot behind sophomore Rory Weinfurther, who carded a 2-over 74 on Monday to finish the event at 221 (+5), tied for 17th place. Weinfurther led the field with 44 pars over the event's 54 holes.

Senior Emily Ward and junior Muskan Uppal registered the third and fourth team scores for Richmond Monday, both shooting 75 (+3). Ward finished the event tied for 35th at 227 (+11). Uppal played her final 17 holes in even par Tuesday after opening the round with a triple bogey on the difficult par-4 8th hole. She finished tied for 42nd at 228 (+12).

Senior Naomi Mitchell shot 80 (+8) Monday to finish tied for 57th at 234 (+18). Playing as an individual, junior Vicky Zhu shot 85 (+13) and finished 76th at 248 (+32).

Richmond's team score of 296 (+8) on Monday was a four-shot improvement over its Round 1 total (300) and five shots better than its score in Round 2 (301). Barlow said that the Spiders performance over the last two days revealed the next step in the team's development.

"I do know now what we really need to work on," said Barlow. "I saw it during qualifying, but this just reaffirms what we need to work on: we just need to make more birdies. We need to make some longer putts. And we're going to work on that for the next few days before we head to Bryan Park."

Up next for the Spiders is the Bryan National at Bryan Park Golf Club in Greensboro, N.C. The three-day event begins on September 26.