Falcons Finish Fourth At Redbird Invitational

Monday, September 11

Normal, IL

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Redbird Invitational

September 11, 2017 | Women's Golf

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Round 1 Statistics
Round 2 Statistics
Round 3 Statistics

NORMAL, Ind. – After 54 holes of golf, the Bowling Green State University women's golf team finished the Redbird Invitational this afternoon (Sept. 11) by finishing fourth out of 12 programs. Bowling Green carded a team score of 921 (306, 311, 304, +57), concluding the competition that was hosted by Illinois State and played at the Weibring Golf Club.

"I am proud of the team for being in the hunt most of the day," said head coach Stephanie Young. "A top third finish is a great way to start the season. Our birdie production helped with that success. We definitely have some things to work on this week, and then a quick turnaround for the Cardinal Classic (Ball State) and Mary Fossum Invitational (Michigan State)."

For the tournament, Erin Fahey finished third on the individual leaderboard to lead the Falcons with a 221 (+5). Fahey, who shot rounds of 75, 71 and 75, finished six shots off the lead and one shot out of a tie for second place. Fahey's 54-hole total of 221 is tied for the third best in program history.

Nichole Cox shot a 70 on the day, which was tied for the best round throughout the entire tournament. The program record for 18 holes is a 68, and there has only been four scores of 70 prior to today in BGSU women's golf history. Cox shot a 225 (+9) to finish tied for sixth. Her 225 ranks tied for ninth best in program history for 54 holes.

The Falcons sat tied for fourth heading into the day, and shot a team-low 304 to close the competition out, finishing just seven strokes off the lead. BGSU only finished behind Northern Illinois (914), Bradley (915) and Western Illinois (919).

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Northern Illinois (306 – 309 – 299 – 914, +50)
2. Bradley (304 – 304 – 307 – 915, +51)
3. Western Illinois (311 – 302 – 306 – 919, +55)
4. Bowling Green (306 – 311 – 304 – 921, +57)
5. Illinois State (308 – 309 – 314 – 931, +67)
6. Southern Illinois (320 – 307 – 310 – 937, +73)
7. IUPUI (315 – 312 – 311 – 938, +74)
8. Ohio (314 – 316 – 312 – 942, +78)
9. Loyola (318 – 305 – 323 – 946, +82)
10. Ball State (313 – 322 – 313 – 948, +84)
11. Valparaiso (329 – 323 – 331 – 983, +119)
12. Illinois Wesleyan (330 – 338 – 335 – 1003, +139)

PLAYER LEADERBOARD
3. Erin Fahey (75 – 71 – 75 – 221, +5)
T6. Nichole Cox (80 – 75 – 70 – 225, +9)
T35. Sarah Kern 79 – 83 – 77 – 239, +23)
T41. Jessica Madry (74 – 83 – 84 – 241, +25)
T43. Sammi Blackburn (78 – 82 – 82 – 242, +26)

FALCON FACTS
* Erin Fahey's total score of 221 ranks tied for third best in program history for 54 holes.
* Fahey now has four top-five finishes in her career, and has had a top-three finish in each of her three seasons as a Falcon.
* Fahey finished with four birdies in all three rounds.
* Nichole Cox's round-three 70 is tied for the fourth best round ever in school history. There have only been three scores in program history better than Cox's 70.
* Cox's total score of 225 ranks tied for ninth in BGSU women's golf history.
* After posting two birdies in each of the first two rounds, Cox carded four birdies in round three.
* Sarah Kern's 239 ties her personal record for a three-round tournament.
* Kern finished tied for 35th, which is her second-highest finish in any tournament, and her best finish in a three-round tournament.
* Kern carded two birdies in all three rounds.
* Jessica Madry carded a 241 for the tournament, which is her third-best score for a 54-hole event.
* Madry finished tied for 41st, and has now posted seven top-45 finishes across her Falcon career.
* Madry's round-one 74 is the best 18-hole score of her collegiate career.
* Sammi Blackburn finished tied for 43rd in the first tournament of her career.
* Blackburn opened the tournament with a round-one 78, which was the third best score of the round for the Orange and Brown.
* In that opening round for Blackburn, she scored three birdies, which was second only to Erin Fahey for the Falcons across the first 18 holes.

TEAM TIDBITS
* Bowling Green finished the event with a tournament-high 32 birdies.
* There were only two scores throughout the entire tournament that were better than BGSU's round-three 304. Bradley also shot a 304 in each of the first two rounds.
* BGSU averaged a score of 5.08 on par fives, which ranked second in the field.
* Bowling Green ranked fourth for the tournament in par three scoring (3.38) and par four scoring (4.40).
* The Orange and Brown ranked sixth with 141 pars for the tournament.
* The Falcons' team score of 921 and placing of fourth is an improvement over last season's opener, which was also at the Redbird Invitational. Last season, BG finished seventh and shot a 924.
* Bowling Green and Northern Illinois were the only two programs out of the 12-team field that had two players finish inside of the top six on the individual leaderboard.
* All five Falcons finished inside of the top 45.

UP NEXT
* Bowling Green will head to Yorktown, Indiana over Sept. 18-19 to compete in the Cardinal Classic.
* The tournament is hosted by Ball State and staged at The Players Club.
* The Falcons have competed at the Cardinal Classic in each of the last three seasons.