GRANGER, Ind. - The Wittenberg Tigers continue to set standards that will be very hard for future teams to even approach.
Wittenberg demolished a quality 10-team field at the O'Brien National Invitational, hosted by St. Mary's at Knollwood Country Club, and along the way the Tigers broke at least four school and tournament records. The Tigers carded scores of 292 and 299 for a two-round total of 591 to easily outdistance second-place George Fox by 25 strokes.
The first-day 292 was a tournament record and a Wittenberg record, eight strokes better than the previous standard established twice in less than a month near the end of the 2014-15 season. The second-day 299 also broke the previous record.
The two-day total of 591 is 10 strokes better than the previous program record, established at Ohio Wesleyan's Laura Bump Invitational on April 11-12, 2015, at Mill Creek Golf Club in Ostrander, Ohio.
Obviously, if the team is breaking records, there are individual records set as well. Sophomore Jane Hopkinson-Wood (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) shot a 73 in the first round - one stroke off the school record coming into the season - and she followed that up with a blistering four-under-par round of 68 in the second round. Hopkinson-Wood was one of three players to previous share the program record of 72.
Hopkinson-Wood's two-round score of 141 was five strokes better than her school record, set last year at the Joe Duncan Rhodes Invitational on March 22-23, 2015. She won the tournament by five strokes over Liza Freed of Washington and Lee.
Junior Macy Hubbard (Mason, Ohio/Mason) finished fourth with a two-day total of 149, followed closely by senior Maggie Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) in fifth place with a 150. Senior Allie Lawwill (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown) tied the previous school record with a collegiate-best score of 72 in the first round en route to a two-day total of 155, good for 10th place, and freshman Chloe Bradburn (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) rounded things out with a 163 to finish 26th in the 62-player field.
Written By: Ryan Maurer