OCU women in lead, Meyers leads men at Sydney Cox Invitational
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University led after one round of the Sydney Cox Invitational on Monday at Lincoln Park Golf Course. The Stars compiled a 297 on the par-70, 5,856-yard East Course to stand two strokes ahead of Bellevue.
Lauren Behnken held a piece of second place in the individual race to pace the OCU women’s golf team. The Stars put together a two-shot cushion atop the team leaderboard.
Behnken, a junior from Tulsa, posted her second round below 70 of her career with a 35-34–69. Behnken rolled in three birdies on the seventh, 12th and 14th holes. Behnken shot her career-best round of 34-33–67 during the second round of the Southwestern Christian Invitational on Sept. 24, 2019 in Oklahoma City. Dominika Gradecka from Bellevue (Neb.) led by one shot over Behnken and Shaley Goad of Oklahoma Christian.
Two OCU golfers had spots in the top 10 of the field. Arianna Medina produced a 37-36–73, which tied for eighth place. Medina, a senior from Phoenix, sank three birdies Monday to tally her best score of the season.
OCU’s Clair Hill forged a 39-38–77, which tied for 17th. Hill, a senior from Gig Harbor, Wash., knocked in two birdies. Rachel Eckert, a junior from Bixby, carded a 39-39–78 with a birdie on the 11th hole. McKenzie McCoy, a senior from Beggs, Okla., had a 40-42–82.
Two Oklahoma Christian stalwarts, Shaley Goad and Abigail Rigsby, put themselves in contention. Goad, a junior from Wheeler, Texas, shot a 1-under par 69 and led the 62-woman tournament for most of the day before settling into a tie for second by the round’s end. Dominika Gradecka of Bellevue (Neb.) birdied her final hole for a 68 and will take a one-shot lead over Goad and Behnken of Oklahoma City University into Tuesday’s final round.
Goad had birdies on the par-3 No. 2 and par-4 No. 3 to grab the early lead and held a four-shot lead, at 3-under, after a birdie at the par-4 No. 12. To that point, she didn’t have a bogey, but she had three over her next four holes. Still, she held a share of the lead until No. 18, when she briefly regained it outright with a 10-foot birdie putt.
Gradecka, who started an hour after Goad, finished her round with two birdies over her final five holes to edge ahead.
Rigsby, a senior from Courtenay, British Columbia, experienced a roller-coaster round with four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey, but rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 No. 17 to move into the top five.
Another of OC’s seven individuals playing in the tournament, junior Felicity Wittenberg of West Pymble, Australia, was just one shot out of the top 10, tied for 11th after a 74 on the 5,856-yard course. Sophomore Alexandria Bennett of Plano, Texas, drove the green on the par-4 No. 18 and closed her round with a birdie, moving her into a tie for 15th at 76.
Freshman Alyssa Wilson of Yukon had two birdies on the front nine and posted a 78, good for a tie for 24th. Sophomore Sarah Harrison of Edmond was tied for 55th after shooting a 92 while sophomore Hannah Sullivan of Eufaula posted a 96 and was tied for 57th.
Tuesday’s round will be played on Lincoln Park’s West Course, which is par-72 and 5,962 yards. The Eagles’ two groups will tee off No. 1 at 9:42 a.m. and 9:51 a.m., respectively.The Sydney Cox Invitational concludes with another 18 holes 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the West Course at Lincoln Park. OCU tees off the first hole 10:27 a.m. Tuesday.
Meyers tops OCU in Sydney Cox Invitational
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University’s David Meyers shot 66 and stood one stroke off the pace in the Sydney Cox Invitational on Monday at Lincoln Park Golf Course. OCU as a team shot 279 and was in sixth but just six shots behind leader Ottawa University.
Meyers, a senior from Johannesburg, South Africa, turned in a 35-31–66 on the East Course, set up as a par-70, 6,420-yard layout. Meyers nailed five birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 480-yard 15th hole. Meyers and OCU teed off on the 10th hole, so he finished his day with five birdies in his last eight holes.
In 2020-21, Meyers has shot five scores in the 60s in six rounds. He has been 20 shots under par in his last four rounds and 25 strokes below par for the season. Meyers has notched 25 rounds in the 60s in his OCU career and nine top-five showings in a row.
Mason Mikeska gave the Stars two golfers among the top five on the leaderboard and under par in the field. Mikeska, a junior from Waco, Texas, shot a 32-35–67 for his first under-par round of the season. Mikeska pounded in four birdies, including three in four holes to finish his first nine of the day. Mikeska drained a birdie on No. 15 to touch off that flurry.
Bosten Benn supplied OCU with a 35-38–73, while Robbie Sager contributed a 37-36–73. Benn, a freshman from Edmond, dropped in four birdies. Sager, a freshman from Carthage, Mo., buried three birdies.
Will Fore, a junior from Southlake, Texas, had a 78 for the Stars.
OCU entered Carson Breckenridge, Quinton Tews and Ben Thionnet as individuals. Tews, a senior from Edmond, tallied his finest round as a Star with a 73, while Thionnet, a freshman from Edmond, carded a 77. Breckenridge shot 83.
Andres Brictson led a group of four Oklahoma Christian golfers on Monday in the Sydney Cox Invitational, shooting a 2-under-par 68 in the first round at Lincoln Park Golf Club’s East Course.
Brictson, a junior from Merida, Mexico, who earned NCAA Division II All-America honors last season, recorded four birdies in his first competitive round of the 2020-21 season and was tied for 10th in the 60-man field, three shots behind the leader, Carson Guthrie of Bethany (Kan.).
Three Eagles made their collegiate debuts on Monday. Of that group, freshman Chase Gardner of Snohomish, Wash., led the way, shooting a 73 on the 6,420-yard course and posting three birdies, one by curling in a 35-foot putt on the par-4 No. 3. He was tied for 31st.
Hunter Perkins, a sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, also had three birdies en route to a 74 and was tied for 40th. Freshman Mason Bannister of Moore had two birdies on his back nine while shooting an 84.
The final round on Tuesday will be played on Lincoln Park’s West Course, which is par-71 and 6,518 yards.