Islanders finish strong at Ball State, tie for fifth

YORKTOWN, Ind. - The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi golf team finished in a tie for fifth at the Cardinal Classic, hosted by Ball State University, on Monday at the Players Club in Yorktown, Ind. This was the first tournament of the 2018 fall season for the Islanders. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot a 299 in Tuesday's third and final round, the third lowest team score of the day. The Islanders improved on the team leaderboard each round, moving from a tie from tenth to sixth yesterday. Today, the team moved up one spot to tie for fifth. This year's field featured 16 teams and 87 individuals.

"Good start to the season," said head coach Joni Stephens. "I was proud of the composure these athletes showed under pressure. We made some great recovery shots, rolled in some needed putts and stayed focused on the process. I was really pleased to bring in two rounds under 300 in our first tournament."

Kellsey Sample had the team's low tournament, firing a 225 to tie her for 15th individually. Dani Bergmann finished strong, firing back-to-back rounds of 73 to close out her tournament. She finished in a tie for 21st with a 227. Autumn Bynum finished in a tie for 27th and Alex Amos tied for 37th. Brooklyn Sutton had her best round of the tournament, firing a 75 on the final day. She tied for 53rd.

As a team, the combined score of 908 is tied for sixth all time in Islander history for 54 holes. The team shot a 908 during the 2017-18 season at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.

The University of Indianapolis won the team title with a combined 866. The Greyhounds also had the top three individual placers of the tournament.

t5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 312 - 297 - 299 - 908
t15. Kellsey Sample - 78 - 72 - 75 - 225
t21. Dani Bergmann - 81 - 73 - 73 - 227
t27. Autumn Bynum - 78 - 74 - 76 - 228
t37. Alex Amos - 77 - 78 - 78 - 233
t53. Brooklyn Sutton - 79 - 83 - 75 - 237

The Islanders head to San Antonio, Texas, for a match-play contest against UT-Rio Grande Valley as part of the South Texas Showdown presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union on Friday, Sept. 21.

For all the latest on Islanders Golf, be sure to follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersGolf), Instagram (@IslandersGolf) and like the team's official Facebook page (IslandersGolf).