Ciskowski and Wu Post Personal Bests as Gopher Women Finish Ninth at Minnesota Invitational

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By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  MINNEAPOLIS – Just weeks prior to the start of her junior season for the University of Minnesota women’s golf team, Heather Ciskowski fired a career-low 69 during the second round of the 2016 Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship.

During the second round of the Minnesota Invitational Monday, Ciskowski matched her career-best and during the final round Tuesday, carded 74 to finish at 217 in a tie for third—another career-best.

“I made a lot putts yesterday. I can definitely attribute shooting 69 to putting super well,” she said. “It’s hard when you’re putting really well one day and making everything to keep that up. I really just tried to hit fairways and greens today and give myself opportunities today.

“Today was good, too. It was windy and the exact opposite of yesterday, so you really had to take some extra time. It was definitely more mental today. I started out kind of slow—I made the turn at 2-over, which isn’t awful, but made the turn and played really solid.”

As a team, Minnesota carded a final-round 307 to finish in ninth place at 907. After 36 holes, the Gophers trailed the University of Texas by just 10 shots with 18 holes to play, but struggled to get production from the other three starters.

Ciskowski, Barrington, Ill., opened the championship with a 74 during Monday’s morning session before rolling in seven birdie putts during the second round Monday to shoot 69 and share the 36-hole lead.

During the final round Tuesday, Ciskowski began on the 10th hole and carded back-to-back bogeys at the 11th and 12th before righting the ship by rolling in a 4-footer for birdie at the par-5 14th after finding the sand with her third.

Giving back two shots with bogeys at the 15th and 17th, Ciskowski finished her front nine strong by converting a 15-foot slider for birdie. Playing a much more steady back nine, Ciskowski would bogey the par-4 fifth, but finished strong with a birdie on the final hole, sticking her approach to five feet and rolling in her putt to finish in a career-best tie for third.

“I played well this past week so I was feeling good coming in. I knew it was going to be a little bit windier and tougher, so I had to bring my A-game and I definitely did,” she said.

Posting the two lowest scores of her career within weeks of each other, Ciskowski said setting the bar for her performance this season will continue to rise moving forward.

“This sets my expectations at a really high level, which I like, and gives me the ability to continue to improve for the rest of the season and break my record from last year.”

Ciskowski played in every tournament for the Gopher women last year, setting a new school record for a single-season scoring average of 73.93. She collected a pair of top-20 finishes during her sophomore season.

Sophomore Muyu Wu also notched a career-best finish Tuesday, shooting a final-round 73 to finish tied for 13th at 223.

Wu, from Hangzhou, China, opened the championship with a 5-over par 77 Monday before carding a pair of 73s to finish inside the top-15.

University of Kentucky’s Isabelle Johansson and Furman University’s Haylee Harford each carded final rounds of 4-under par 68 Tuesday to earn a share of medalist honors at 1-under par 216.

Coming down to a scorecard playoff, Furman edged defending champion Purdue University as the two schools both finished the team competition at 18-over par 882.

The Gopher women return to action Sept. 23-25 when they travel to Greenville, S.C., to compete at Furman University’s Lady Paladin Invitational at Furman University Golf Club.



2016 MINNESOTA INVITATIONAL
THE MINIKAHDA CLUB
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
6,119 YARDS, PAR 72


FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Furman, 299-297-286—882 (won scorecard playoff)
2. Purdue, 293-298-291—882 3. Texas, 296-294-301—891
4. Wisconsin, 306-293-293—892
5. Texas Christian Univ., 298-296-301—895
6. Kentucky, 295-291-302—898
7. Louisville, 297-294-308—899
8. East Carolina Univ., 306-291-307—904
9. MINNESOTA, 306-294-307—907
10. Kansas State, 312-297-308—917
11. Kansas, 316-293-319—928


FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T1. Isabelle Johansson, Kentucky, 72-75-68—215
T1. Haylee Harford, Furman, 75-72-68—215
T3. HEATHER CISKOWSKI, MINNESOTA, 74-69-74—217
T3. Marta Martin Garcia, Purdue, 73-73-71—217
T5. August Kim, Purdue, 71-74-73—218
T5. Lisa Pettersson, ECU, 74-70-74—218
T5. Alice Chen, Furman, 74-73-71—218
8. Brooke Farrell, Wisconsin, 73-70-76—219
9. Brooke Graebe, TCU, 75-72-73—220
T10. Linn Andersson, Purdue, 73-76-72—221
T10. Greta Volker, Texas, 75-68-78—221

T13. MUYU WU, MINNESOTA, 77-73-73—223
T38. EMIE PERONNIN, MINNESOTA, 78-75-78—231
T51. SABRINE GARRISON, MINNESOTA, 77-77-82—236
57. MAGGIE HEGGERSTON, MINNESOTA, 80-81-82—243
60. NIAMH WARD, MINNESOTA, 83-89-78—250 (playing as individual)


For complete tournament results go to: www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=11283