Lady Flyer Golfers Begin Spring Campaign on a Positive Note
Katie Ochoa and Gracie Church posted top 10 finishes as the Sandhills Community College women's golf team opened the spring season by winning the SCC Spring Intercollegiate that wound up at Long Leaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines on Monday.
Eight teams were represented in the field of 21 golfers, but Meredith College had the only other full team. The Lady Flyer's team score of 399-393-792 for 36 holes was 93 strokes better than that posted by the NCAA Division III first-year program from Raleigh.
Lydia Randell of St. Andrews (76-74-150) made a birdie on the first playoff hole to nip Allysa Curry of Surry CC (74-76-150) for medalist honors. Ochoa (86-90-176) finished in sixth place and Church (92-92-184) came in ninth.
Also for Coach Herb Pike's squad, Taylor Pratte (97-95-192) was 11th. The Flyers' fourth player, Lindsay McCauley, finished in 18th place.
"It was a good first tournament for us," Pike said. "I've got four ladies with good attitudes and that's important. They're all going to get better."
Ochoa, a sophomore, who played at Belmont Abbey as a freshman after graduating from Pinecrest High School, led the Lady Flyers with a stroke average of 82.6 during the fall season. Her goal for the spring is to average in the 70's.
"I didn't shoot what I was hoping to shoot today, but that happens," she said afterward. "The wind made it kind of difficult. For one shot I went up two clubs and was still short. You could also see it affecting our putts."
Church, a freshman from Hibriten High School, would like to average in the 80's during the spring season. She also talked about the wind on an otherwise pleasant Monday.
"It was blowing in our face for about half of the round, so that was really hard," she said. "I started off better today, but then went downhill."
Other colleges represented were Wake Tech, Spartanburg Methodist, USC Sumpter and Davidson County CC.
Next for the Lady Flyers is the Brown Golf Invitational at Whispering Pines CC on March 13-14.
Two players have signed to play for the Flyers next fall and two others have made verbal commitments. The signees are Aubri Bishop of Union Pines High School and Georgia Dawson of West Craven High School.
C. Bergmann
