WORCESTER, Mass. – After two weeks away from the course, Bethune-Cookman Women's Golf is back in action this week for the Crusader Invitational presented by CoveRisk hosted by the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
 
The two-day, 54-hole tournament takes place Oct. 21-22, at Worcester Country Club. Each day begins with a shotgun start at 10 a.m.
 
Joining B-CU and the host Crusaders of Holy Cross in this year's 10-team field are squads from Assumption, Bryant, Le Moyne, Maryland Eastern Shore, Merrimack, Niagara, New Haven and Siena.
 
Live scoring for the Crusader Invitational presented by CoveRisk is available here.
 
ABOUT THE COURSE
Worcester Country Club was founded in 1900. In 1913 the club called on golf architect Donald Ross to build an 18-hole golf course on a new site in Worcester and in 1914 President William Howard Taft dedicated the new club. In 1925, the club hosted its first major championship the men's U.S. Open.
 
It was the first, and currently only one of three golf courses in the United States, to host the men's and women's U.S. Open Championships and the Ryder Cup. For over half a century, Worcester was the only club to have hosted all three events until 2014 when Pinehurst hosted its first U.S. Women's Open. The club is tied with Oyster Harbors for hosting the most Massachusetts Opens (7) and has also hosted seven Massachusetts Amateur Championships.
 
With five par threes, Donald Ross's Worcester Country Club is tougher than the modest 6,650 yards on the scorecard. With par set at 70, and seven par fours which stretch out beyond 400 yards, The par three sixth hole measures 207 yards from the back tees and it was here in 1925 that Walter Hagen bagged his first hole-in-one. The sixth green is sited on an elevated plateau with only the flag visible from the tee.
 
WILDCATS IN THE FIELD
1. Katie Robinson (Sr.) – American Canyon, Calif.
2. Ashlie Hobbs (Grad.) – Cardiff, Wales
3. Kamary Leaf (R-Sr.) – Brownsburg, Ind.
4. Skylar Kew (Jr.) – Dundas, Ontario
5. Meeya Marquez (Soph.) – Sherman Oaks, Calif.
 
QUOTES FROM STOKES
"I was extremely happy when we were invited to participate in the Crusader Invitational. There are some good teams in the field that we've seen in the past year or so, as well as having faced Le Moyne in our last event in Ohio. We appreciate Holy Cross and Head Coach Steve Napoli hosting this event and giving us the opportunity to participate. Our goal is to represent Bethune-Cookman well both on and off the course."
 
"Our team has been putting in great work individually and having to practice on their own quite a bit as were displaced for over 10 days in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, and I'm eager to see how that translates into this week's tournament. I think it's going to bring them closer together, and they'll respond well to this adversity."
 
"Tournaments like this are valuable experiences for our players as we continue to see leadership come from a variety of areas, as well as someone like Katie Robinson continuing to become more vocal as the senior leader on this squad. We'll be focused on playing our best golf while also using it as a chance to identify areas where we can improve as we near the end of the fall calendar."
 
"Worcester Country Club has a rich history, and we're looking forward to having our athletes compete on such a prestigious course. I expect the layout to really test all aspects of their games."
 
WILDCATS NOTEBOOK
• Bethune-Cookman has been unable to practice together for more than a week as campus was evacuated two days prior to the arrival of Hurricane Milton to the shores of Florida on both the eastern and western shores of the state.
• Graduate student Ashlie Hobbs bagged her first low-scorer performance for Bethune-Cookman in her last outing as part of the Rocket Classic in Port Clinton, Ohio. The Wales native carded a 54-hole, 8-over scorecard (224) in the tournament.
• Having not played officially for more than 16 months, junior Leiahnni Smith competed in her first event for B-CU at the Rocket Classic, returning home to the "Buckeye State" as a native of Lima, Ohio.
• Sophomore Meeya Marquez fired a season-low 86 in the final round of the Rocket Classic, while Jordan Davis lowered her scorecard each round of the event on the difficult Catawba Island Club course.
• Katie Robinson is second on the Wildcats squad with a +8 relative to par score and owns an 80.17 average through two events in the fall portion of the schedule.
• The Crusader Invitational will serve as the penultimate tournament of the fall with B-CU scheduled to participate in the French Broad Collegiate Invitational hosted by UNC Asheville on October 28-29, in North Carolina.
• Skylar Kew posted her two lowest rounds of the fall with an opening round 82 followed by an 81 during the opening 36 holes of the Rocket Classic.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE CATS
Ashlie Hobbs took fourth place as Bethune-Cookman finished eighth at the Rocket Classic hosted by Toledo at Catawba Island Club. Ashlie Hobbs (78-72-74=224, +8) fired a second round even-par 72 during the final round of Monday's two-round opener. She ended up fourth overall in the field of 59 on the final player leaderboard with a final round two-over 74.
 
Katie Robinson (76-84-75=235, +19) tied for 30th in the field, after lowering her second-round score by nine strokes. Skylar Kew (82-81-85=248, +32) fired a second round 81 to finish tied for 43rd. Kamary Leaf (84-84-91=259, +43) began the tournament with back-to-back rounds of 84 to place 52nd. And it was sophomore Meeya Marquez (89-94-86=269, +53) finishing 57th after firing her best round during Tuesday's final 18 holes with an 86.
 
Playing in her first-ever event after transferring from Edward Waters, Leiahnni Smith (107-104-103) served as an individual in the tournament, and was able to lower her scores each round to finish 58th. Jordan Davis (118-113-111) also lowered her scores each round, including saving her best for Tuesday's final 18 holes with a 111.
 
As a team, Bethune-Cookman (320-321-320=961) finished eighth in the field of 10 teams, lowered its team scoring by 58 strokes from last year's appearance in the Rocket Classic.
 
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