ROCHESTER, NY – St. John Fisher College will host the inaugural Empire 8 Women’s Golf Championship/Empire 8 Invitational at Blue Heron Hills Country Club on Saturday and Sunday. Four Empire 8 schools will vie for the conference title and individual awards.
The top five scorers at the end of the tournament will earn first-team all-conference honors with the next five finishers being named to the second team.
Nazareth College captured the non-championship Empire 8 Invitational last year. Senior Michelle Van Slyke came back from a four-shot deficit to finish first in last year’s invitational and was named Empire 8 Player of the Week twice. Van Slyke was the top Golden Flyers’ finisher, placing 14th, at the St. Lawrence Invitational to open this season. Her two-day total of 167 was the second-best among conference players.
Ithaca College placed fifth at the St. Lawrence Invitational, which included all four Empire 8 women’s golf teams. Sophomore Brooke Llobell shot a school-record 82 in the second round to place 19th overall and led the Bombers to a single-round school team record score of 355.
St. John Fisher finished one place behind Ithaca at St. Lawrence. Junior Alex Battle shot back-to-back rounds of 81 for a ninth-place finish, tops amongst conference players, in the 43-player field. Battle was named Empire 8 Player of the Week twice last season and placed second in the conference invitational.
Senior Hillary Irvine was the top finisher for Elmira College at St. Lawrence with her 28th-place finish. The Soaring Eagles placed eighth in the tournament.
William Smith, which finished seventh at St. Lawrence, will also participate in the Empire 8 tournament without being eligible for conference honors.