DeBoer and Baumgartner Swing Women's Golf To A Third-Place Finish
Posted: Apr 12, 2011

DeBoer and Baumgartner Swing Women's Golf To A Third-Place Finish

The Ferris State University women's golf team, behind a fifth-place performance from freshman Jacqueline DeBoer (Grand Rapids/South Christian) and junior Blaize Baumgartner's (Perry) sixth-place effort, produced a three-round 1,006 score (+142) to finish third at the Detroit Titans Invitational (April 11-12) in Redford, Mich.

DeBoer turned in a team-best 245 score (83-80-82=245, +30) for Ferris State to finish seven strokes in back of tournament medalist Alainna Stefan of Detroit.  Stefan (238, +22) claimed the top individual honor by winning a playoff over Oakland's Mara Kovac (238, +22) on the par 72, 5,834-yard Western Golf and Country Club course.  Baumgartner, competing in her first three-round tourney of this season, finished one stroke behind DeBoer by recording a 246 score (83-81-82=246, +30).

The two helped Ferris State conclude Monday's (April 11) opening two rounds with a 673-stroke total (344-329) followed up by a final-round 333 score in Tuesday's (April 12) action on the links.  The Bulldogs placed 17 strokes behind second-place and host Detroit Mercy (989, +125) and 23 strokes in back of tournament champion Oakland (983, +119) among the six participating teams.

Junior Erin Fuchik (Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley) shot a season-best three-round 257 score (88-84-85=257, +41) to claim 12th place while fellow junior Brooke Rodes (Traverse City/West) captured 13th place by firing a 258 (84-83-91=258, +42) as a non-scoring capacity.

Two other Bulldogs, freshman Emily Rohdy (Farwell) and junior Bryce Hetchler (Clinton Township/Fraser) also cracked the top 20 leaderboard.  Rohdy's 264 (90-90-84=264, +48) earned her 17th-place plaudits while Hetchler posted a 265 (93-84-88=265, +49) to gain a share of 18th place.

Ferris State had entered the two-day tournament ranked sixth for the second consecutive week in the latest (April 7) NCAA Division II East Region poll as released by the NCAA-II Women's Golf Committee. 

The Bulldogs return to the links this weekend (April 16-17) to compete in the Northwood Invitational at the Currie Golf Course in Midland, Mich., prior to the 2011 GLIAC Championships (April 22-23) in Ashland, Ohio.