KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Bethune-Cookman Women's Golf shot a collective final round 285 on Tuesday, allowing the Wildcats to finish 10th in the field of 43 at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic hosted by the College of Charleston. The three-day, 54-hole event took place at Osprey Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
 
Competing in the team's first event of the spring season, and in the debut of interim head coach Robert "Tony" O'Neal, the Wildcats were able to turn in one of their best performances of the year to date.
 
Bethune-Cookman junior Mackenzie Butzer and sophomore Yudika Rodriguez each tied for 24th in the final individual standings, helping the Wildcats shave 21 strokes from Monday's second round team score in the process.
 
Rodriguez, a native of Salinas, Puerto Rico, fired a final round 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday, collecting the second-lowest round of any Wildcats performer in the tournament. Rodriguez's (76-74-70=220, +4) tie of Butzer for 24th on the final tournament leaderboard was another top 25 mark for her in the field of 232 participants.
 
Meanwhile, Mackenzie Butzer, a Chatham, Ontario native, carded a final round 1-over 73 in order to finish tied for 24th in the tournament field with Rodriguez. She opened the event with an even-par 72 in Sunday's round, followed by a second round 3-over-75 in order to carry a final 220 (+4) scorecard. The final scorecard was her lowest three-round total of the 2016-17 season.
 
Saraid Ruiz (76-78-68=222, +6) fired a final round 4-under 68 in order to place herself tied for 33rd in the field. Ruiz, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, tied Coastal Carolina's Barbora Bakova for the lowest individual final round score. The score was not only her lowest round of the 2016-17 campaign, but represented the lowest round of her career after transferring to the program prior to the 2015-16 season. It allowed her to jump to the top of the team's lowest average for the year, now holding an even 74 across 12 rounds.
 
Playing as an individual for the Wildcats was Shannon O'Dwyer (74-82-72=228, +12) of Durham, England, firing a final round even-par 72 in order to finish tied for 66th overall. O'Dwyer lowered her second round score by 10 strokes, while she opened the tournament with a 2-over 74, representing one of her best on the year.
 
Also factoring into the Wildcats scoring was sophomore Shamiso Hatchard (81-79-74=234, +18), the 2016 National Minority Collegiate Golf Champion. The Webber Independent School product and native of Milton Keynes, England carded better rounds each day, lowering to a final round 2-over 74. She finished the event tied for 120th on the final leaderboard.
 
The final BCU golfer was sophomore Alejandra Sanchez (80-83-77=240, +24), shaving six strokes from her second round 83. She would tie for 160th in the field.
 
As a team, Bethune-Cookman (304-306-285=895, +31) jumped five spots on the final day, entering the championship round tied for 15th.
 
Coastal Carolina (289-295-286=870, +6) defeated host College of Charleston (289-303-279=871, +7) by a single stroke to take the tournament title. The Cougars' Laura Fuenfstueck (70-68-70=208, -8) won the individual medalist honors.
 
Bethune-Cookman will compete again March 14-16, co-hosting the Second Annual Lady Eagle/Cat Invitational at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is co-hoisted between Bethune-Cookman and Winthrop.
 
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