Isaac, K-State Finish Fourth in Spring Opener at DAC

Monday, February 3

Dallas, Texas

Kansas State University

SMU / DAC Challenge

Feb 03, 2020 | Women's Golf

Final Results Results / Stats (.pdf)

MESQUITE, TEXAS - Reid Isaac's final two shots were a pair of her best, knocking a 92-yard approach within 15 feet, then sinking the putt to close a 36-hole day at the SMU/DAC Challenge with a birdie and fourth place finish individually. Isaac was one of the few players in the field who enjoyed their rounds at Dallas Athletic Club's Blue Course Monday, notching her third top-5 finish of the season after shooting 76-74—150 (+6) to lead the Wildcats. K-State finished fourth as a team.

Isaac was among six out of seven Wildcats to improve their scores from the first to the second round - including four in the scoring lineup - to cut the team score by four strokes, but K-State slipped from third to fourth in the team standings with a 321-317—638 (+62). Baylor claimed the team title with a 19-over 595, paced by Diane Baillieux who shot even in both rounds to earn a 144 (E) and medalist honors.

"Conditions were tough today," K-State head coach Kristi Knight said. "This golf course is a great test of golf, it'll get your attention, it exposes weaknesses. These greens, they're not small, but they play small. You can have an approach shot and if you're just off a little bit, you can leave yourself some difficult chipping opportunities to save par. It was a good challenge. The course rewards good shots and penalizes bad ones."

Limiting bad shots was key for Isaac throughout the day. The junior from Montgomery, Texas, carded no worse than bogey on any hole and finished third in the field with 24 pars. She was sharp on par-5s, shooting a combined three under, but shot particularly well on par-3s, hitting seven of eight greens while shooting even par, second-best in the field.

"I'm super proud of Reid, you could tell she was excited to play today, she was having fun on the golf course and she hit a lot of quality shots," Knight said. "She did a nice job, didn't have a score worse than a bogey and that's why she was able to keep her score down and finish fourth. When she did hit a bad shot, she took care of business. That's the key. It was tough to get around that golf course today without more than a bogey."

Darby Deans (6) and Niamh McSherry (5) made the biggest stroke improvement in K-State's scoring lineup from the first two second round and for McSherry it resulted in a top-20 finish, her second of the season and first since winning the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in September. McSherry finished tied for 18th after shooting 83-78—161 (+17). She was followed by sophomore Heather Fortushniak at 19-over 163 in a tie for 25th, and Chloe Weir in 27th after carding 20-over 164. Deans finished tied for 38th with a 90-84—174 (+30).

Playing as individuals, Briony Bayles dropped 10 strokes to shoot a 76 in the second round - tied for second-best among any K-State golfer - to finish tied for 22nd at 18-over 162, and freshman Haley Vargas finished tied for 29th after shooting 84-83—167 (+23).

Isaac and the Wildcats used the event to not only gauge their start against a pair of Big 12 foes - Baylor and second-place-finishing Texas Tech - but also to gather information for the Big 12 Championship on the same course in April. The returns may be more immediate according to Knight.

"Not only for the end of the year, but for now," Knight said. "That golf course it's a good test of golf, I think it is an eye opener for every player there as to what you need to work on. Our main focus is the Westbrook Invitational coming up in a couple of weeks, it's a different style course, but its still competitive golf.
"This sport is a funny sport. It comes down to a game of misses, its how good are your misses. No matter what, whether you're hitting it good or bad, you have to keep yourself in a competitive mentality, that's where this team can really improve. It's early, our best golf is ahead of us."

K-State will make a training trip to Arizona this weekend but won't compete officially again until Feb. 23-24 at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona, hosted this year by the University of Wisconsin.