Women's Golf | 9/16/2025 11:32:00 PM
BURLINGTON, NC — The North Carolina A&T women's golf team vaulted from 11th place to eighth to wrap up the Elon Invitational at the 71-par 6,025-yard Alamance Country Club course on Tuesday.
Three seniors fueled the Aggies' surge.
Tori Mouton fired off a 1-under 70 on the final day of the tournament. Meanwhile,
Ekaterina Prokhorova and
Polina Marina shot even par as the Aggies improved from 14-over 298 in the second round to a 6-over 290 in the final, leading to their accession.
Prokhorova posted her third straight top 5 finish in a tournament by finishing in a fourth-place tie with Elon's Emma Hansen at 1-under (72-69-71--212).
A&T's 37-over (301-298-290--889) was enough to edge fellow Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) member William & Mary by one stroke, as the Tribe finished with a three-round total of 38-over 890. A&T finished three strokes behind Winthrop, with the Eagles shooting a 35-over 887.
Elon and James Madison held firm at the top of the leaderboard, sharing first place at four-over 856. Radford remained in third place, despite falling behind the leaders by eight strokes, while Appalachian State climbed five spots to earn a share of third at 12-over 864.
Starting the day on the par-5, 12th, Mouton improved on her 49th-place finish from Monday to finish 32nd for the tournament. She made her move 17 spots up the leaderboard by birdieing holes 16 and 17 back-to-back. On 16, she carded a two on the par-3, 153-yard hole before posting a four on the par-5, 470-yard hole that followed.
After a bogey on the course's first hole, she moved back into the red at 1-under with a birdie on the par-5, 475-yard sixth. A bogey on the eighth moved her to even par before she regained the stroke on the par-4, 365-yard ninth. Her day ended with two straight pars. She finished the tournament at 8-over (75-76-70 — 221).
Prokhorova, coming off her historic win at the Bridgestone HBCU Invitational last week, flirted with the tournament lead for a spell on Tuesday. She started Tuesday on the par-4, 315-yard 11th, opening up with a par. She immediately started going in the red for the next two holes by birdieing the par-5, 492-yard 12th and the par-4, 355-yard 13th. She kept it steady with a stretch of three straight pars before birdieing 17 to move to 3-under on the day and 4-under for the tournament.
It momentarily did give her the lead, but she did give a stroke back thanks to a bogey on two, but she did birdie the par-4, 357-yard third. Consecutive bogeys on the fourth and fifth, however, moved her to 1 under on the day. She birdied No.6, but bogeyed holes eight and 10 to finish at even par.
Marina opened the final day with a birdie on the par-4 355-yard 13th. She made another birdie putt on the par-5 17th but posted bogeys on 15 and 18 before making the turn. Two more birdies, one on the par-3, 154-yard fourth, and the other on the No. 6, moved her to 2-under before she bogeyed No. 8. She closed her round with three pars and a bogey, finishing the tournament in 48th place at 14-over (81-75-71--227).
Kaathi Gunasegar shot 16-over (73-78-78--229) to finish 55th. Junior
Sofia Fernando recorded a 31-over (81-80-83--244).
The Aggies will be back in action Sep 29-30 in the Tot Hill Farm Invitational at the Tot Hill Farm Golf Course in Asheboro, NC.
