After a win over the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, Indiana women’s golf traveled to Orlando, Florida, for the PDI Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Central Florida from Sunday to Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Clubhouse.
The Hoosiers finished 15th out of 17 teams, only ahead of the University of Central Arkansas and Augusta University. Their score of 875 was 41 strokes behind first place Baylor University. The Hoosiers ranked last in par 3 scoring and were 16th in par 5 scoring for the week.
In the first round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament, Indiana shot a one over par to put it in 12th place. Senior Beatriz Junqueira and junior Madison Dabagia led the way for the Hoosiers on day one with a round of two under par. Dabagia’s round of 70, which included four birdies, marked the lowest round of her collegiate career.
Redshirt junior Maddie May and redshirt senior Caroline Smith also contributed to the Hoosiers one over par with rounds of 74 and 75, respectively.
But the 6,392-yard, par 72 course proved to be a tougher test for Indiana in the second round. After play was delayed due to fog, Indiana shot a round of 299, for 11 over par. Smith posted a three-under-par 69 and was the only Hoosier to shoot under par on the second day.
May shot a 76, while Junqueira and Dabagia shot 77, and the Hoosiers slid to 15th place.
While Indiana was able to bounce back in the final round with a score of one under par, its slow second round took them out of striking distance of the teams above them on the leaderboard.
Smith and May shot under par on the final day of the tournament with rounds of 70 and 71, respectively. Smith recorded four birdies while May tallied two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole.
Junqueira and Dabagia scored a one-over-par 73.
At two under par, Smith was the only Hoosier to finish under par for the tournament, which put her in a seven-way tie for 36th place.
With their score of four over par for the tournament, Junqueira and Dabagia finished in a tie for 63rd place while May finished in a tie for 67th place at five over par.
Freshman Cara Heisterkamp, who did not contribute to the team's score in any round, finished the tournament at 20 over par in 93rd place.
Indiana will have over two weeks to continue to knock some of its winter rust off before its next tournament. The Hoosiers will compete at the Chevron Collegiate on Feb. 24-25 in Humble, Texas, at the Golf Club of Houston.
Savannah Slone covers Indiana women’s basketball for the Indiana Daily Student. You can follow her at @srslone06 on X and contact her via email at srslone@iu.edu.
