SOUTH BEND, Ind. ---Despite trailing by as many as nine shots in Monday's round one, the Women's Golf team lit the course up on Tuesday on their final nine holes. The Pilots played them two-under-par collectively and recorded a new school record (297) to pull away from first round leading Grace College for the victory. The 21st annual Battle at Blackthorn featured eleven teams from Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio.
Izzy Aigner led the Pilots on day one with an impressive two-over-par score of 74. Freshman
Ellie Webster was not far behind at 76 and
Selah Unwin's 77.
Rebecca Guernsey got in the mix too in the first round, shooting her collegiate low score of 78.
Bethel's first round score of 312 was one off the pace set by the Lancers and set up what turned out to be a successful final round shootout. In that second round, it was the incredible back nine play of sophomore
Megan Bishop that triggered Bethel's resurgence. Making the turn at +3, Bishop made 4 birdies coming in and finished with a collegiate low 1-under-par 71.
Once again, Webster was brilliant herself, carding a 75 to match Unwin, who parred her final 11 holes to post the +3 score.
Karisa Dyer jumped in on the action with a clutch birdie on her 17th hole to shoot 76.
Aigner, chasing the leader all day, birdied her final two holes to tie for the lead before losing the medalist honors in a sudden-death playoff.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," shared Head Coach
Christopher Hess, regarding the team's scoring record. "This team just continues to show their talent and depth and today, they finally put it all together on the same day and got the job done! Izzy was our rock, this time for two days, and Ellie and Selah's consistency kept us in the hunt on day one. And then, Megan decided to go crazy on the back nine today and it really gave the rest of the team some juice to finish strong. Karisa is just a gamer, and she showed that again today when we needed it most."
Aigner (2nd), Webster (3rd) and Unwin (4th) all earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
Megan Bishop jumped up to 6th place, and
Rebecca Guernsey placed 11th in the 57-player field.
The Pilots will next compete on October 6th and 7th, when they will host the Fall Classic at Harbor Shores.
For more information about Bethel Pilots Athletics, check out bupilots.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X by searching @bupilots or #TheRightWayToPlay.
