Trey Farley
tlf001@marietta.edu
It was a weekend fifteen years in the making and truly a day to remember in Marietta College athletics.
After a decade and-a-half hiatus, women’s golf returned to Marietta College and the women wasted no time bringing the program into the spotlight as they participated in the Lynn Schweizer Invitational on Sept. 2 and 3 at Denison Golf Club.
With eighteen holes on the docket for both days the Pioneers were prepared for a long weekend. However, Saturday’s action was halted after nine holes due to inclement weather. This stoppage in play put golfers in an interesting situation where they would have to play 27 holes on Sunday to complete the tournament.
Despite the inclement weather and first-tournament jitters, the Pioneers were still able to reestablish the golf program at Marietta in fashion. As a team, the women set new program records for 18 and 36 holes with scores of 366 and 750, respectively.
“We shattered over five school records and haven’t even played our best golf yet. All the credit goes to these women. They have been working hard to ensure this program gets started on the right foot and I couldn’t be happier to have this group to begin the program with.” Coach Tom Arison said.
Leading the Pioneers on the weekend was sophomore Jackie Cunningham who posted Marietta’s lowest scores in both rounds with a first round score of 81 and a closing 78, for a total of 159 for the tournament, which was more than enough for a top ten finish. Freshman Beth Lebar contributed low scores for both rounds with scores of 86 in the first round and 83 in the finale, for a total of 169 to finish tied for eighteenth. Both Cunningham and Lebar crushed the previous program records for lowest round (89) and lowest 36-hole total (179).
“I am motivated because although it was each of our player’s first tournament, we had a great start for Jackie Cunningham finishing t-7 and Beth Lebar t-19 as a freshman.” Arison said. “Each of our women aren’t satisfied with our first tournament, and they know this is a weekend to see where we stand within our own conference. Our scores are only going to continue to get better and we look to keep breaking records on our way to an OAC championship.”
Pioneer fans can watch the Women play in their first tournament in Marietta since 2002 at the Marietta Country Club on Sept. 24 and 25 for the Ohio Valley University Fall Women’s Classic.
