Isaac Earns Share of Schooner Classic Crown, ’Cats Eighth

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Kansas State University

Schooner Fall Classic

Isaac Earns Share of Schooner Classic Crown, ’Cats Eighth

Sep 28, 2020 | Women's Golf

Final Results (.pdf)Golfstat Leaderboard

NORMAN, Okla. – K-State senior Reid Isaac picked up right where she left off after high winds cut short the second round of the Schooner Fall Classic, firing five birdies a day after carding six, including a flurry to close a second-round 65 (-5) en route to earning a share of her second individual tournament crown. Isaac posted the second-best 54-hole tally in program history after shooting 70-65-70--205 (-5) to tie Baylor's Gurleen Kaur for medalist honors at Belmar Golf Club Monday.

Isaac opened Monday's second round with a bogey but then finished with a flash to complete a climb into the tournament lead by dropping four strokes over the final three holes, going birdie-birdie-eagle to turn in a 65, a career-best and the second-lowest 18 hole total in K-State history. The Montgomery, Texas native shot even par in the final round and waited 35 minutes after sinking her final putt for results to go final while Kaur finished her round.

The shared victory marked the second win of her career and first since her freshman season at the Trinity Forest Invitational. As a team, K-State fell to 8th in the 11 team field after shooting 290-286-301--877 (+37).

"I didn't start off so hot during the restart," Isaac, who's previous career-low round was a 66 at Lantana Golf Club in 2019, said. "I told myself that I didn't work so hard to get to four under for nothing and just to hang on to that. To finish birdie, birdie, eagle was just really special and just solidified that I was meant to be where I was and I didnt lose that lead that I had worked so hard to gain.

Isaac's share of the top spot moved her into third in career wins behind Connie Jaffrey (4) and Christine Boucher (5) and her 54-hole tally of 205 (-5) is second only to Boucher's 204 at the Edwin Watts Invitational in 2002. Isaac tied Kaur, ranked No. 46 in Golfstat's preseason rankings, and topped six other players ranked in the top-100.

"It was a really great feeling," Isaac said of the win. "All day just felt like a battle, fighting for pars. It was frustrating but I didn't realize how far I was at the top. It was a really good feeling to come off the course and ask (Coach Jared Helin) where I stood and found out that it was up at the top."

The entire field saw elevated scores in the third round, including K-State. The Wildcats entered the day sixth on the leaderboard but slid three spots after shooting 37-over-par 840 on the 6,094-yard course. McSherry was the next best Wildcat on the course finishing in a tie for 34th place with a three-day tally of 75-74-73--222 (+12). Heather Fortushniak flirted with a top-25 finish before a tough last few holes dropped the junior from Brighton, Michigan, to 48th overall at 73-75-82--230 (+20). Briony Bayles continued to rebound from a sluggish opening round and turned in a 83-72-76--231 (+21) to contribute to the team score and place 49th. Brooke Nolte finished 72-76-86--234 (+24) and in 54th.

Kaur led three Baylor Bears among the tournament's top-five individual finishers, as the team cruised to a 31-stroke victory at 273-280-280--833 (-7), the largest margin of victory since the tournament's beginning in 2013. K-State finished five strokes behind Oklahoma State (872), six strokes behind Kansas (871) and eight behind fifth-place Texas Tech (869).

K-State will wrap-up an abbreviated fall schedule with another trip to Oklahoma for the Cowgirl Classic at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., on Oct. 22-23.