Silvis, IL – The Indian Hills Women's Golf squad took home a fifth-place finish at the TPC Deere Run Invitational on Tuesday. Competing as the lone junior college program in the nine-team field, the Warriors posted a 1,063, +199.
Indian Hills was led by freshman Joska Nelis (Haarlem, Netherlands/Lyceum Sancta Maria) who took home her third top-10 finish through four events this fall. Nelis placed eighth overall in the 50-player field by posting a +37 in the 54-hole, two-day event at TPC Deere Run. Nelis saw improvement in each of her three runs throughout the week, closing out the tournament with an 11-over, 83 in the final round to climb two spots. Nelis tallied a birdie on the Par-3, hole No. 12 to cap a strong final day of competition.
Nelis found success on par-4 holes throughout the event, averaging a score of 4.70, the fourth-best mark in the field while her 23 pars over the course of the 54 holes ranked seventh-best.
Freshman Veronica Rodriguez (Santiago, Chile/Liceo A-1310 Buin), this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) DI Women's Golf Athlete of the Week, placed 14th overall for her third top-15 showing of the year. Rodriguez, who tied for the third-lowest round score of the tournament with an opening round 80 on Monday, finished with a 45-over, 261. The freshman tied for the fifth-most birdies in the tournament with four.
Sofia Saavedra (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/Dawere International) tied for 22nd overall in the tournament with a 51-over, cutting off six strokes between the first and third rounds. Saavedra has now placed in the top-25 in three of the team's four events this year.
Fellow freshman Taylor Pacheco (Chula Vista, CA/Olympian) and Bella Santesteban (Lewisville, TX/Lewisville) rounded out the team scoring with 34th and 49th place finishes, respectively.
The Warriors are set to close out the fall portion of their schedule October 21-22 with the Braun Intercollegiate at Oak Meadow Country Club in Evansville, IN.