Yale's Harriet Owers-Bradley from

Nottingham scores first US win

FROM THE YALE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

(with some additional comments by Colin Farquharson)

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania - Yales University, Connecticut junior-(third) year student Harriet Owers-Bradley from Nottingham has scored her first individual win on the US women's college golf circuit.

She won the Kelly Gutshall Invitational 36-hole women's college tournament at Saucon Valley Country Club in a play-off after two rounds of stroke-play had produced a tied result (October 17-18).

Owers-Bradley, pictured with the trophy, came into the final day two shots off the lead and tied for seventh, but after shooting the lowest score (a three-over-par 75 over the 6158yd course) of the tournament, she found herself in a tie for first with Lehigh's Rosie Davies. It only took one play-off hole and a 15ft clutch putt for the English student to wind up holding the first-place plaque.
"The conditions were much better today," said Owers-Bradley. "It was a bit damp and cold, but it didn't rain."
Owers-Bradley had shot a 79 in the first round when the tough conditions got the better of the players. Saturday's round saw just nine rounds in the 70s with everyone else in the 80s or higher. The players played the front nine twice due to the awful conditions and slow play by the men's team. In Sunday's second round, the girls played the back nine twice.
"It was tough because you didn't know what was going on," said Owers-Bradley. "It was a really weird tournament. I think our team just had an off weekend."
Owers-Bradley's 75 (+3) brought her even with Davies after 36 holes and it would take one more to decide the tournament champion. The players teed up on the first hole and Owers-Bradley blasted her drive into the rough. Davies ball sailed down the fairway and it was advantage Davies. Owers-Bradley's second shot ended up in the bunker just right of the green, while Davies ended up in the left bunker, and the players were back on even ground.

Owers-Bradley's bunker recovery landed 15ft under the pin. Davies' shot out of the bunker landed six feet above the pin.
"I had a pretty easy putt straight up hill and even though her putt was shorter, it was tougher and downhill," said Owers-Bradley.
Owers-Bradley drained her clutch putt and Davies missed hers, giving Owers-Bradley the win.
"I really wanted to get revenge on the Lehigh course," said Owers-Bradley. "I played this course as a freshman and shot a 14 on one hole. My goal was just to par it (that hole) which I did both days. The whole thing was pretty exciting though."
The rest of the Bulldogs did not find the same success as Owers-Bradley, finishing in fifth place with a total score of 655. A trio of Ivy League teams finished at the top of the leaderboard. Harvard won the whole tournament with a score of 633. Columbia finished three shots behind Harvard in second, with Penn seven shots behind the Lions.
Yale struggled under the conditions in Bethlehem all weekend. Junior Alyssa Roland and freshman Alexandra Lipa finished in a tie for 18th. They matched each other's scores on both days shooting 85 (+13) and 81 (+9). They finished with a two-round total of 166 (+22).

Harriet finished 12 shots ahead of her nearest Yale team colleagues who were placed joint 18th.

The Bulldogs are now done for the fall season and will head into the off-season with one team victory and two individual victories.
"We need to work on a bit of everything this off-season," said Owers-Bradley. "It is going to take a lot of hard work especially on our mental toughness."
LEADING RESULTS IN BRIEF

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY INVITATIONAL

Par 144 (2x72) 6158yd.

154 Harriet Owers-Bradley (Yale) 79 75, Rosie Davies (Lehigh) 78 76 (Owers-Bradley won at first sudden-death play-off hole).

155 Katie Sylvan (Harvard) 78 77.

157 Alejandra Estrada (Towson) 81 76, Livia Amado (Lehigh) 77 80.

TEAMS

635 Harvard. 636 Columbia. 643 Pennsylvania. 650 Lehigh. 655 Yale. 10 Teams took part.