The Prairie Fire women's golf team is still trying to shake off the rust and find an identity after losing last season's top two golfers to graduation while playing in the first two events of the fall season.
Knox placed 11th September 9 in the Knox College Invitational at Gibson Woods Golf Course in Monmouth. The Prairie Fire's home course, Soangetaha Country Club, is undergoing renovations that prompted the tournament to be moved to Gibson Woods. Knox then placed 10th September 10 at the Fighting Scots Invitational, also played at Gibson Woods.
The Prairie Fire, trying to get used to playing without 2010-11 leaders Jessica DeMory and Rachel Talpers, shot a 430 -- 24 strokes behind 10th place Illinois College -- September 9.
Millikin University won the Knox Invitational with a team score of 357. Robert Morris University (IL) finished second, two shots behind Millikin. Olivet Nazarene University (362) placed third, Lincoln College and Monmouth College tied for fourth (365) and Edgewood College (367) was sixth.
Junior Mia Savard (Menifee, California) led the Prairie Fire with a 99, which tied her for 40th place individually. Savard finished her first nine holes at 50, then carded a 49 on the next nine.
Sophomore Lizzy Rodgers (Homewood, Illinois) recorded scores of 53 and 52 for a total of 105, tying her for 48th overall. Junior Monica Price (Rochester, Illinois) shot 112 and sophomore Sarah Martin tallied a 114.
Wheaton College's Debbie Bouzeos was the individual winner. She finished at 84 after opening with a 41 on the first nine holes followed by a 43. Tying for second place on the individual leaderboard with 85s was Megan Chitty of Clarke University and Alexa Tyler of Wheaton, which finished eighth overall after the team's two other golfers shot 95 and 110, respectively.
Millikin's top scorer, Brittany Holmes, fired an 86 and placed fourth. Teammate Lauren Abrahamson tied for 6th place with an 88. Millikin's other golfers finished 14th and 26th.
Savard again carded a 99 at the Fighting Scots Invitational, tying her for 35th overall. The Prairie Fire shot 444 as a team.
Price shot 110, two strokes better than her score the previous day. Martin finished at 116 and Rodgers 119.
Millikin won the tournament to complete the sweep. The Big Blue, behind individual champion Brittany Holmes' blistering 1-under par 71 -- shot 353 as a team -- seven strokes better than runner-up Edgewood College.
One of two teams from Augustana College finished third (361) while Wheaton and Clarke tied for fourth place after both shot 363. Monmouth College had two golfers place in the top 10, helping the Scots finish sixth in the team standings with a 364.
Bouzeos, with an 80, bested her score in the Knox Invitational by four strokes to place second individually. Chitty carded an 83 for third place, Wheaton's Sarah Moore shot an 84 for fourth, and Andrea Falco of Robert Morris was fifth at 87.
The Prairie Fire returns to the links September 13 to play in the Illinois College Fall Midweek Tournament in Jacksonville, Illinois. The first players are slated to tee off at 10:00 a.m.
For the latest updates and scores, follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter @KnoxPrairieFire
