MORGANTON, NC – The North Carolina A&T women's golf team nearly finished as one of the top three teams at The Mimosa Invitational hosted by Appalachian State at the par 72, 6,274-yard Mimosa Hills Golf Course but could not entirely overcome in the Gardner-Webb University (GWU) Runnin' Bulldogs.
Even though the Aggies did not reach the top three, the Aggies did have an individual finish in the top 5 and two individuals in the top 10. Junior Polina Marina placed 5th in the two-day, three-round tournament by shooting 11-over (71-78-78)—227. Junior teammate Ekaterina Prokhorova placed seventh by shooting 13-over (76-78-75)—229).
A&T finished fourth overall by shooting a three-round 76-over (306-319-315)—940. They finished one shot behind GWU for third place (316-310-313—939) and one shot ahead of tournament host and fifth place App State (311-316-314—941). The Aggies were 15 shots behind tournament winner Wofford. The Terries shot 61-over (301-311-313)—925 to win the event four strokes ahead of Tennessee Tech's (303-307-319)—929.
A contender for the individual crown, Marina started her third round on the par 4 first and had a superb front nine. She went bogey-free on the front nine, recording a birdie on the par 5, 460-yard No. 3 and another on the 479-yard par 5 seventh. She stood a 2-under going to the par 4 11th, where she started a string of three straight bogeys to move to plus-1 going to the par 5 14th.
Marina parred the next two holes before finishing her round with two bogeys and a double bogey, shooting 44 on the back nine after shooting 34 on the front.
Meanwhile, junior Ekaterina Prokhorova finished strong on Tuesday, even though she had a rough start. Prokhorova double bogeyed the first hole she played, the par 4 second before scoring a birdie on No. 3. She carded another birdie on the front nine, the par 5 seventh before a bogey on No. 8 ended her front nine with a 37.
After a par on the par 4 10th, it became adventurous for Prokhorova. She went bogey on No. 11, birdie on the 465-yard par 5 12th, and bogey on the par 3 13th.
The adventure continued with a birdie on the par 5, 466-yard 14th before a bogey on 15. When it was over, Prokhorova stood at 2-over for the round. She ended her third round with three pars and a bogey to finish the back nine with a 38 and the third round at 3-over.
Sophomore Sofia Fernando finished her tournament with two birdies on Tuesday. She had five birdies for the tournament and shot 29-over 85-82-78—245 to finish in a tie for 32nd. Junior Ana Rodriguez finished the tournament with a 34-over 85-81-84—250.
After leaving the course on Monday with an injury, junior Tori Mouton returned to finish the tournament on Tuesday. She shot 74 in the first round and 85 in the third.
The next step for the Aggies is the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Golf Tournament, April 11-13 at Reserve Course in Southport, NC.
