PALM DESERT, Calif. --- Nationally 10th-ranked
Washington and Lee University bookended its Division III Women's Golf Championship experience with its best team rounds of the tournament as the Generals carded a 4-over 292 on Friday to hold off hard-charging seventh-ranked Washington University in St. Louis by one stroke for fourth place at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California.
The Generals' fourth-place showing is the best in program history on the national stage. Twice they finished ninth in 2021 and 2023. WLU's 72-hole total of 22-over 1,174 was 20 shots behind champion and top-ranked Emory University (1,154), which topped No. 3 Carnegie Mellon University (1,161) by seven strokes and No. 2 New York University (1,166) by 12 markers in the top-three.
Randolph-Macon College, ranked 13th in Division III, maintained its post-third round position and finished 12th overall at 55-over 1,207. The Yellow Jackets carded an 8-over 296 on the final day, their best showing of the four-round event. Their 12th-place finish is a new program-best after tying for 20th last season.
Washington and Lee first-year
Toral Bhatt recovered from an uncharacteristic third round with a 2-under 70 over her final 18 holes. That was the best score for any ODAC player on the day and helped her tie for 16th at 5-over 293. RMC junior
Morgan Mussatt completed her experience at 6-over 294 to tie for 19th as the second-ranked conference player over the course of the week.
Statistically, Mussatt finished atop the par-5 scoring chart at 8-under (4.50). WLU's
Bella Scucchi was fourth at 6-under (4.63). Bhatt was sixth-best in par-4 scoring at even-par (4.00). She also tied for second in most pars with 50.
In terms of team rankings, Washington and Lee was fifth in par-5 scoring at 15-under (4.81). The Generals tied for sixth in pars with 220 and ranked seventh in birdies with 43.
Below is a breakdown of all 10 ODAC players at Desert Willow this week.
| SCHOOL/PLAYER |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
TOTAL |
TO PAR |
PLACE |
| Toral Bhatt |
69 |
72 |
82 |
70 |
293 |
+5 |
T16th |
| Bella Scucchi |
72 |
77 |
74 |
72 |
295 |
+7 |
T24th |
| Mackenzie Cline |
76 |
75 |
73 |
73 |
297 |
+9 |
T36th |
| Berkeley Bundy |
75 |
72 |
78 |
84 |
309 |
+21 |
T109th |
| Julia Haetzel |
79 |
87 |
69 |
77 |
312 |
+24 |
T123rd |
| Washington and Lee |
292 |
296 |
294 |
292 |
1174 |
+22 |
4th |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Morgan Mussatt |
72 |
74 |
74 |
74 |
294 |
+6 |
T19th |
| Lilly Hall |
77 |
77 |
74 |
72 |
300 |
+12 |
T57th |
| Alexis Haller |
75 |
81 |
74 |
76 |
306 |
+18 |
T93rd |
| Grace Anne Haggerty |
76 |
79 |
78 |
74 |
307 |
+19 |
T100th |
| Elli Flinchum |
82 |
81 |
86 |
85 |
334 |
+46 |
T172nd |
| Randolph-Macon |
300 |
311 |
300 |
296 |
1207 |
+55 |
12th |