WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's golf teed off this weekend at the Saddlebrook Golf Club in Wesley Chapel, as the Gyrenes were one of 14 teams to compete in the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff, hosted by Walsh University. Ave Maria finished in 13th place in the competitive event, placing more than 100 strokes better than fourth place Tiffin (B). The tournament marked Ave Maria's first time playing in Florida during the 2021-22 campaign. 

Ave Maria's best round of the tournament came on Thursday, as the Gyrenes carded a team score of 373 in the first round, just six strokes behind 12th place St. Xavier University. The Gyrenes logged a 401 in the second round, then bounced back in Saturday's final round for a 380, shaving 21 strokes off Friday's score, powered by the best individual round of the tournament for a Gyrene.

Morgan Hicks was Ave Maria's best finisher at Saddlebrook, placing in the top half of the tournament with a 243. Hicks played consistent golf over the weekend, shooting an 81 on Thursday, an 83 on Friday, then carding AMU's best overall round with a final round 79. Eliana Tetzlaff was also in the top half of the field, shooting a 251 with an 80, an 82, and an 89. The Minnesota native was at her best on the shortest holes, placing fourth in the tournament with a 3.25 average on par 3 holes.

Delaney Southers was AMU's number three golfer on each of the first two days, shooting a 104 on Thursday and a 108 on Friday before finishing her tournament with another 108 on Saturday. Alexandria Henderson was fourth among Gyrenes with a 348, and Madeline Salvador finished the effort with a 352. Salvador's score of 104 on Saturday was a countable score for the Gyrenes, a 13-shot improvement on Thursday and a 26-shot upgrade from Friday.

Keiser University, the NAIA's number one team in the nation and the defending national champions, rolled their way past the field with a 25-shot victory over runner-up Tiffin (A). Michela Tjan, a top ten finisher in the 2021 national championship tournament, rallied from a four-shot deficit after two rounds to topple Tiffin's Lisa Marie Schumacher by one shot for the individual title.

The Gyrenes have two more tournaments on the schedule before The Sun Conference Championship at the end of April. The first of these tournaments comes in just over two weeks, when Ave Maria travels to Clarkesville, Georgia to play at the Piedmont Spring Invitational, hosted by NCAA Division III Piedmont University.