Women’s golf team finishes 5th at Marilynn Smith Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. — After the third tournament of the fall season, the Oral Roberts University women’s golf team finished fifth in the Marilynn Smith Invitational, which ended Tuesday afternoon at Colbert Hills Golf Club.

ORU had a lead after round one of the Marilynn Smith Invitational as the Golden Eagles had the best score of any team in the opening 18 with a 293 (5-under par).

ORU had 34 birdies in the tournament to close out with a 904 (40-over par) score to finish fifth overall. The Golden Eagles were three strokes behind fourthplace Rutgers and 21 strokes back from the lead. They did defeat Power 5 opponent Cincinnati by nine strokes.

Katelyn Rika led ORU after the first round as she finished with a 71 (1-under par) score. The 71 round score tied her lowest individual round score of the season. She continued to lead the Golden Eagles finishing tied for 10th overall with a 224 (8-over par) score. She had seven total birdies.

Lydia Swan finished tied for 16th, only a stroke behind Rika, with a 225 (9-over par) scorecard. Swan’s best round came in round two where she hit a 74 (2over par). She had seven birdies altogether and an eagle on a par five hole (No. 10) in round one.

The Golden Eagles will participate in their final tournament of the fall season in the Dale McNamara Invitational, which will begin at 8 a.m. Monday at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Tulsa.