Sarah Bell Claims The Cusick Family Trophy
A Champion has been decided after the third and final round of The Prairie Invitational. Sarah Bell, of Jackson, Missouri, won the championship by 2 strokes over Sera Tadokoro. Bell found herself in the lead on the back nine after making back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14. Bell knew she was in the lead after someone mentioned it to her on the 17th hole. Feeling pressure going into 18, she said to herself “Sarah, it’s your last hole, just stay mentally strong. Don’t think about anything, just play this like it’s a normal hole,” and she did just that. Finishing her round with a par secured her as the leader in the clubhouse. Bell shot 74-78-71-223 and was the only golfer in the field to shoot under par during the tournament.
Tadokoro started the round as the leader and fell a couple of shots back after a double bogey on the 16th hole. She earned her Runner Up title, shooting 74-74-77-225.
Other notable players include Whitney Pyle who finished in 3rd Place shooting 77-76-74-227. 2017 Prairie Invitational Champion, Kristen Samp won the Midwest Section PGA Champion Award which is the award given to the best player in the field representing the Midwest Section PGA; Samp shot 77-75-77-229. The Low Junior Award was given to Danica Badura of Aurora, Nebraska for shooting 76-79-79-234 and the Low Senior Award was given to 7-time USGA Champion, Ellen Port who shot 79-75-77-231.
For full results: http://www.kansascitygolfer.org/2019-prairie-invitational-recap/
Players Division Champions Awarded, Top 21 Open Division players move onto Round 3
Players Division
Maggie King took home The Prairie Invitational Players Division Championship Title by four shots over Neely Adler. King, a Junior at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, shot 80-79-159 with impressive birdies today on holes 8 and 16. Audrey Rischer of Columbia, Missouri finished in 3rd place shooting 83-84-167. Jaclyn Koziol of Loch Lloyd, Missouri and Lauren Muller of Blue Springs, Missouri tied for fourth.
Jacci Kelly of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was the Players Division Net Champion. With net scores of 71-73-144 she took the championship by 7 shots over Harley Hiltibrand or Brule, Nebraska. Judy Moning of Raymore, Missouri finished in third place, and Sandra Pepper of Leavenworth, Kansas and Izzy Puk of Omaha, Nebraska tied for fourth place.
Open Division
21 Players in the Open Division will continue to Round 3 at The National Golf Club of Kansas City. Sera Tadokora leads the division shooting two rounds of 74. Tadakoro had a strong front 9 with two birdies and seven pars.
Aristelle Acuff is right behind Tadokoro by one stroke. Acuff made strides throughout her round bringing in 5 birdies on her day. Gianna Augustine, Rachel Stous, and Kenni Henson share 3rd place with two-day totals of 151, 3 shots back from the lead. Augustine birdied her first three holes of the day, though she struggled throughout the front 9, she played consistently on the back 9. Henson also had an impressive back 9, shooting (-2), 34.
2016, 2017, and 2018 Prairie Invitational Champions, Kayla Eckelkamp, Kristen Samp, and Emma Whitaker, are all four shots back from the lead. Going into the final round, many players are within reach of The 2019 Prairie Invitational Title.
Rigsby, Bell, and Tadokoro Lead The Prairie Invitational after Round 1
Cooler than usual temperatures and moderate winds made for a perfect day of golf at The National Golf Club of Kansas City.
In the Open Division, several golfers ended their round tied for the lead at (+2) 74. Abigail Rigsby was the early leader after birdieing her opening hole and getting an eagle on her second hole of the day. Sarah Bell, Sophomore at Oral Roberts University, got off to a hot start birdieing her first two holes. Sera Tadokoro, the University of Kansas Junior, also had a great round finishing even par on the front nine and two over on the back.
The 2016 Prairie Invitational Champion, Kayla Eckelcamp, Gianna Augustine and Rachel Stous are tied for 4th, (+3) 75.
Rounding out the top ten was the 2018 Prairie Invitational Champion, Emma Whitaker, along with Danica Badura and Aristelle Acuff all are tied for 7th place, (+4) 76.
With the top of the leaderboard crowded, the Cusick Family Trophy is still within reach for many Open Division Competitors.
The Players Division
Maggie King (+8) leads the Players Division by one stroke over Neely Adler (+9) after the first round. Following her double-bogey start, King made her comeback on the back nine shooting even par. Adler had an exciting beginning with an eagle on the par 5, second hole and had birdies on holes 8 and 15.
Harley Hiltibrand, Sam Maceli, and Audrey Rischer are tied for 3rd place at (+11) 83.
Other notable players include the 2018 Players Division Champion, Hope Robinette (+16). Robinette is currently tied for 11th place. 2017 Players Division Champion, Barbara Cusick (+18) is tied for 16th place.
Follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook tomorrow for updates @prairieinvitational for live scoring click here.