Grace’s Abby Slabaugh tees off of No. 1 at Stonehenge during the Battle at the Henge invitational over the weekend. InkFreeNews photo by Mike Deak

By Josh Neuhart
Grace College Sports Information

WINONA LAKE – Grace College had both of its golf programs competing this weekend in its only home tournament of the fall. The Lancer men and women hosted a slew of quality opponents in the Battle at the Henge invite at Stonehenge Golf Club Friday and Saturday.

Grace Women Topple Ranked Opponents

Carolyn Pacocha tracks her drive Friday during play at the Battle at the Henge.

Grace’s women’s golf team shined on Friday and Saturday at the Battle at the Henge.

The Lady Lancers earned a spot in the record book with their performance. Grace placed second in the stacked field which featured four teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25.

No. 22 Grace only trailed No. 4 Taylor in the field, and the Lady Lancers topped both No. 10 St. Francis and No. 16 Indiana Tech. On Saturday, Grace’s team outscored Taylor by three strokes.

Grace enjoyed warm weather but had to battle strong winds at Stonehenge Golf Course. But the Lady Lancers still broke records despite the winds.

Lucy Young was sensational, carding a 77-74 to place second overall. Her tournament total of 151 tied her career best, which also tied for the fourth-lowest 36-hole total in program history.

Rebecca Hawes was not far back with a total of 157 (81-76) to place fourth overall.

Carolyn Pacocha was Grace’s third top-10 finisher, earning seventh place with a scorecard of 81-80. Rachel Harvey finished tied for 11th on the individual leaderboard by carding an 80-83.

Grace produced a 319 on Friday afternoon followed by a 313 on Saturday as a team. Grace’s 313 on Saturday was the 10th-lowest round in team history, and Grace’s tournament total of 632   was the fifth-lowest total in team history.

“I feel like this is one of the best tournaments our team has ever played. Beating Taylor in the second round was a highlight, but we just played really well both days in difficult conditions,” said Grace head coach Denny Duncan. “I’m especially pleased to see us finish the last round so well. I’ve said all fall this team is young but has the talent to be special. I think we showed that today.”

The Lady Lancers will hope the team’s momentum will continue into the 2020 NCCAA National Championships next. Grace, the defending NCCAA champions, will play in the three-day tournament on Oct. 19-21 at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla.

Lancer Men Take Part In Final Action Of The Fall

Payton Kelly chips onto the first green Friday in play at the Battle at the Henge invite.

Grace’s men’s golf team had its final regular season tournament of the fall on Friday and Saturday with the Battle at the Henge.

The Lancers placed sixth out of seven teams in a field which included five Crossroads League squads.

Grace’s next tournament is its biggest. The 2020 NCCAA National Championships are set for Oct. 19-21 at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla. The Lancers placed fourth in the national tournament one year ago.

After struggling mightily with the windy conditions on Friday at Stonehenge Golf Club, Grace rebounded nicely on Saturday. Grace shot a 328 on Friday, the highest in the field. But on Saturday, the Lancers fired a 306 which was the second-best.

Noah Wright was a steady hand for Grace. The junior was consistently strong, producing a 77 on Friday and 75 on Saturday to finish seventh.

Camden Gongwer enjoyed a seven-stroke improvement between rounds with a second-round 75. Payton Kelly’s jump was even bigger with an eight-stroke improvement (84-76).

Parker Wilburn (86-80) and Blake Lawson (85-86) rounded out Grace’s scoring.

On the B team, Tristen Dubbs was Grace’s third-lowest scorer overall (82-77), and Ty Ploss fired a second-round 79.