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Led by co-medalist Rachael Jones, the Hope College women’s golf team put together a strong 36-hole weekend performance and secured a second-place finish out of nine teams at the Irish Hills Invitational that concluded on Saturday afternoon at Tecumseh Golf Club.

Hosted by Adrian College, the two-day tournament featured a tight battle at the top of the leaderboard.  Hope and Adrian spent much of Saturday’s final round trading places for first place before the Bulldogs pulled away to win the team title with a day-two score of 317 and a two-day total of 642.

The Flying Dutch finished as the runner-up with a second-round 327, bringing their tournament total to 656. Alma College took third place with a final total of 697 after posting a 341 on day two.

“We started slow on Friday, so I was very proud of how our team battled hard to turn it around and stayed patient,” said head coach Megan Radaz. “We definitely are leaving knowing what we need to improve on while also seeing growth so that’s encouraging.”

Jones (Grove City, Ohio / Grove City HS) led the charge for Hope, earning a share of individual medalist honors with a tied-for-first-place finish after carding a team-low, 6-over-par 78 on Saturday. Jones finished the tournament at 11-over along with Adrian’s Rachel Fay.

Three other Flying Dutch golfers earned top-10 finishes on the individual leaderboard. 

Senior Jaiden Winters (New Carlisle, Indiana / New Carlisle) posted an 83 on day two to claim sixth place at 21-over, while senior Kylie Gernaat (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Kalamazoo Christian) shot an 83 to finish one stroke behind her teammates.

Sophopmore Gabby Hanover (Mason, Michigan / Mason) rounded out the Flying Dutch in the top 10 with an 83 to place 10th att 26-over. 

Competing as an individual, senior Allyson Zuidema (Northville, Michigan / Northville) turned in a strong performance to finish eighth overall after firing an 82, and sophomore Kennedy Gernaat tied for 24th place after recording a 93 in her final round.

Hope’s next round is on Monday, Sept. 14, at 11 a.m. at the season’s first MIAA Jamboree at the Marshall Country Club in Marshall.