Mizzou women’s golf wasted no time taking control at the Johnie Imes Invitational, using a strong opening day at The Club at Old Hawthorne to grab the team lead and put senior Addie Dobson in command of the individual race.
The Tigers finished Monday at 9-under par after posting a 5-under 283 in the first round and a 4-under 284 in the second, giving Missouri a 567 total through 36 holes. That leaves the home squad atop the leaderboard with one round to play Tuesday.
Dobson delivered the day’s biggest punch. The senior opened with a career-low-tying 6-under 66, then backed it up with a 4-under 68 to reach 10-under par overall. Her 9-under 135 total gives her a six-stroke cushion heading into the final round.
Senior Melanie Walker also started her season in fine form, sitting in second place individually after matching 2-under 70s in both rounds. Walker piled up seven birdies across the day and finished at 4-under par.
Sophomore Addie Surber turned in an even-par performance over her two rounds and ended the day sixth individually. Playing as an individual, she collected six birdies along the way.
Junior Alexandra Berglund stayed right in the mix as well, placing seventh at 1-over par after rounds of 72 and 73. Her work helped keep Missouri in front on the team board.
Senior Fleur van Beek finished 12th at 4-over after rounds of 75 and 73. She picked up two birdies in the afternoon round and moved up the individual standings.
Freshman Page Bowman carded rounds of 79 and 77 to end the day tied for 26th at 12-over.
Missouri also had two players competing individually. Sophomore Grace Crawford tied for ninth at 5-over, while freshman Nina Andersen is tied for 38th at 16-over.
The Tigers tee off again Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. for the final round.
In Other News...
Dennis Gates Just Landed Another In-State Recruiting Win For Missouri
Missouris in-state recruiting momentum kept rolling with another important addition from the Kansas City area. Cameron Barnes, a four-star forward from Lees Summit West High School, committed to the Tigers after being pursued steadily by Dennis Gates and his staff, a relationship that clearly mattered as Barnes weighed his next step.
Barnes pointed to the consistent recruiting effort and the culture Gates has built as key reasons for choosing Missouri, a sign the staffs approach continues to resonate close to home. He joins fellow four-star recruit Scottie Adkinson in Missouris 2027 class, giving the Tigers another high-end piece as they keep building around familiar territory. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous New Ranking Puts Even More Pressure On What Comes Next
Missouris climb in the Week 3 AP Top 25 Poll was modest, but it still mattered: the Tigers moved from No. 20 to No. 19 after handling Troy, while also nudging up from No. 22 to No. 21 in the Week 3 LBM Coaches Poll. The rise keeps them in view nationally and adds a little more weight to every snap from here on out, especially with the SEC schedule about to stiffen in a hurry.
What comes next is where this ranking really starts to bite. Missouri is staring at a run of ranked opponents that includes No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Ole Miss, with Oklahoma waiting in the regular-season finale after the Tigers edged past the Sooners in the coaches poll. For a team trying to prove its place in the upper tier, the margin for error is about to get very small. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Win Over Troy Hid A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
Missouri got the win over Troy, but the tape offered a more complicated picture than the final score suggested. The Tigers offense never really settled in, even as the running game showed improvement and the defensive line took a step forward. It was the kind of performance that left the staff with a few encouraging signs and just as many reasons to keep digging.
Austin Simmons afternoon stood out for the wrong reasons, especially after the quarterback had looked sharper in earlier weeks. The bigger concern, though, came on the back end, where the secondary gave up multiple explosive plays that flipped the feel of the first half. For a team trying to stack cleaner outings, those lapses are the sort of problem that cant be brushed aside just because the result in the standings looked fine. [Read more 🡒]