New College of Florida Men’s and Women’s Golf will compete Monday and Tuesday at the Invite at Innisbrook, hosted by Dalton State at Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The men’s tournament features 20 teams, while the women’s tournament includes 13 teams. New College of Florida enters after the men’s team placed third and the women’s team finished fourth at the Battle at Black Diamond.
Men’s team brings top-six start
New College of Florida’s men’s team finished third out of 11 teams at the Battle at Black Diamond with a three-round score of 886, or 22-over par. New College of Florida was the top Sun Conference team in the field, finishing ahead of Ave Maria and Florida College. The team opened the fall with a sixth-place finish at the Coastal Georgia Men’s Fall Invitational and has placed inside the top six in each of its first two tournaments.
Tripp Watkins led New College of Florida by placing fourth overall at 1-under par with a three-round total of 215. Watkins recorded rounds of 71, 69 and 75 and was the top NAIA and Sun Conference golfer in the field. Cameron Cantine tied for eighth at 3-over par, while Oscar Munoz and Avery Shahriari tied for 11th at 5-over par.
Dallas Torres and Alexander Ogle tied for 17th at 6-over par. New College of Florida’s men’s individuals placed fourth in the team standings with a score of 891. The program had six men’s golfers finish inside the top 17 at the Battle at Black Diamond.
Women’s team builds from fourth-place finish
New College of Florida’s women’s team finished fourth out of nine teams at the Battle at Black Diamond with a three-round score of 938, or 74-over par. New College of Florida was the second-highest NAIA team in the field behind SCAD. The fourth-place result was the program’s best women’s team finish through its first three tournaments of the season.
Alexa Fallis posted New College of Florida’s top individual result by tying for eighth overall at 12-over par with a three-round total of 228. Fallis placed fifth among NAIA golfers and fourth among Sun Conference competitors in the women’s field. Rebecca Luchs finished 20th with a three-round total of 235, and Brittany Odic finished 21st with 236.
Tereza Miksovska tied for 26th with 243, while Madison Balaskiewicz tied for 32nd with 252. New College of Florida opened the fall at the Coastal Georgia Fall Invitational, competed at the PDI Shootout at PGA National and then produced its strongest team result at the Battle at Black Diamond. The women’s team will now return to the Palm Harbor tournament.
Odic returns after top-10 finish
Brittany Odic placed eighth at the Invite at Innisbrook last season with a three-round total of 221, or 8-over par. That finish was one of three top-10 results during a season that ended with Third-Team NAIA All-America honors. Odic enters the tournament after finishing 21st at the Battle at Black Diamond.
Fields set for Invite at Innisbrook
The men’s field includes New College of Florida, host Dalton State, Blue Mountain Christian, Campbellsville, Central Alabama Community College, Coastal Georgia, Cumberland, Faulkner, Grand View, Keiser, Point, Reinhardt, SCAD, Southeastern, St. Thomas, Tennessee Southern, Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Wayland Baptist, Webber International and William Carey. The women’s field includes New College of Florida, Dalton State, Blue Mountain Christian, Coastal Georgia, Faulkner, Pikeville, Reinhardt, SCAD, Southeastern, Spring Hill, Tennessee Southern, Truett McConnell and Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
Both tournaments begin Monday and run through Tuesday at Innisbrook Golf Resort. New College of Florida Men’s and Women’s Golf is scheduled to return to competition Oct. 25-27 at the Southeastern University Invitational. The Invite at Innisbrook gives both programs their next opportunity to build on their Battle at Black Diamond results.
FSB Take
New College of Florida brings measurable momentum into Palm Harbor. The men’s team has recorded consecutive top-six finishes and enters after Tripp Watkins placed fourth at the Battle at Black Diamond, while the women’s team is coming off its best team result through its first three tournaments. Brittany Odic’s previous eighth-place finish also gives the women’s program a verified benchmark at the Invite at Innisbrook.
Source: Original report