The first stroke play tournament of 2018 for Ohio resulted in a 16th place finish at the Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Arizona, which ran Friday to Sunday.
The team shot its worst three-round score of the season, 99 strokes over par, and the worst single round of the season.
Lily Pendy led the Bobcats with a tied for 16th finish and her lowest single round of the season. She was 11 strokes over par for the tournament and tied her best three round score of the season.
It was a two-stroke improvement for Pendy from last year at the same tournament and a jump of 11 places in the standings. For the team it was the same placing, but 35 strokes worse than last year.
Eight other Mid-American Conference teams participated in the tournament, and all but Central Michigan finished higher than Ohio.
Coming into the tournament, Nicole Smiley had the lowest average round in stroke play for Ohio, but she was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard Saturday.
Emily Hughes had a three-stroke improvement from last year to 20 over par and tied for 46th. It was second three-round score of 236 this season and continued her consistency of similar scores in every round.
Marissa Balish shot three rounds in the 80s, as she tied for 85th.
It was a strong opening round for Ashley Flynn with a 3-over-par round, her best as a Bobcat. After that it did not go according to plan, however, as Flynn was 41 over par over the next two rounds to shoot her worst three-round score of the season.
Not scoring for the team but participating was Hannah Travis, who was consistent throughout her three rounds to place 83rd. The 33 strokes over par tied her season best and would have been helpful to improving the Ohio score. She was the third-best scoring Bobcat.
Ohio will head to Florida for the second time this year March 12-13 for the 2018 Spring Break Shootout in Dade City hosted by Western Kentucky.
