Grad student Alison Takamiya, the defending national individual champion, entered the final round of the tournament tied for first place after shooting a three-under-par 69 in the third round. Two bogeys on the front nine were somewhat mitigated by a birdie on the ninth hole, but she then suffered a bogey on the 14th hole to halt her momentum. Four straight pars to end the round left her with a two-over-par 74, good for a third-place overall finish in the tournament. (Courtesy photo: George Fox University)

D3 golf – George Fox finishes in the top 5 for the fifth consecutive year, earns fourth place overall in Virginia

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia – Although George Fox’s quest for a second national championship came up just a little short, a podium team finish and a third-place performance by one of its own were certainly nothing to sneeze at.

The Bruins finished fourth in the D3 national championships, held May 13-16 at Kingsmill Resort in Virginia, with a four-day score of 1,203 (51 strokes over par) to earn a spot on the podium. It was their fifth consecutive top-five finish and the second year in a row the team earned sole possession of fourth place in the tourney.

George Fox finished 35 strokes behind Emory University (Georgia) and missed earning a third-place finish by eight strokes to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (California). Tied for fourth place following the third round of competition, the five Bruin golfers shot a collective 303 (15 over par) as they finished out the tournament.

Grad student Alison Takamiya, the defending national individual champion, entered the final round of the tournament tied for first place after shooting a three-under-par 69 in the third round. Two bogeys on the front nine were somewhat mitigated by a birdie on the ninth hole, but she then suffered a bogey on the 14th hole to halt her momentum. Four straight pars to end the round left her with a two-over-par 74, good for a third-place overall finish in the tournament.

Senior Liana Brown shined the brightest on the day for the Bruins, shooting a one-over-par 73 on the day thanks to a 3-under-par 34 on the front nine via birdies on three holes. Two unfortunate bogies and a disastrous double-bogey on the back nine resulted in a four-over-par 39 on the back nine, good for 24th place overall.

Graduate student Makensie Toole started the fourth round strong after she picked up two early birdies, but two bogeys on the front nine and three on the back nine proved costly as she finished at 75 (three over par) for the day, good for 62nd place overall.

Grad student Ainsley Carter and freshman Katelyn Lam rounded out the scoring for the Bruins, shooting 81 (9 over) and 83 (11 over). respectively. Neither golfer recorded a birdie on the day, but each had a stretch of pars. Carter finished in 128th place, Lam 166th.

“All and all, I’m just thrilled to make the podium this year with all our great seniors as that makes it five straight years for us bringing home an NCAA trophy,” Bruin head coach MaryJo McCloskey said. “That is hard to do with such outstanding competition now in Division III women’s golf.”

McCloskey opined that the quality of D3 golfers has increased significantly in recent years as players who could play at a higher level have chosen D3 instead for the “academics and smaller school environment.” That, coupled with a tournament field that has increased from 26 to 34 teams this year, has made it all the more difficult to earn a podium finish.

George Fox University’s Simon Luedtke contributed to this story