Dalton State leads after opening round but falls to 3rd-place finish at SSAC championship

Published 2:28 pm Thursday, April 18, 2024

After a round of golf on Monday, the Dalton State College Lady Roadrunners were in the lead and in position to win their fourth consecutive Southern States Athletics Conference championship.

Dalton State shot the best team round of the tournament at 289 and led the field by eight strokes after round one of the SSAC Women’s Championship in Greenville, Alabama.

A 313 sent DSC into second place after Tuesday’s second round as William Carey took the lead, and a 314 in Wednesday’s final round dropped them to third.

After three straight SSAC titles, Dalton State finished third in the SSAC in 2024.

William Carey took the conference championship, finishing with an 885 across the tournament, 15 strokes ahead of second-place Loyola and 31 strokes ahead of Dalton State in third place with 916.

William Carey was at 297 after round one, and no team had as good of a round as Dalton State’s opening round, but two more good rounds of 292 and 296 in rounds two and three let the Crusaders take the win as Dalton State faltered. Loyola recovered from a 310 in the first round to finish in the 290s in both the second and third to also move in front of DSC.

Dalton State’s great opening round was fueled in part by Sydney Hermann’s 68 in round one, the lowest individual round in the tournament. Hermann was Dalton State’s top individual finisher in fifth place with a 6-over 222.

DSC’s Mailey Buzzell finished 10th at 14-over, and Sara Burger was right behind in 11th at 15-over. Jia Kataria finished 22-over in 20th, and Hanna Bullard was 22nd at 25-over. Playing as an individual, Ella Cress finished in a tie for 25th.