The St. Thomas women’s golf team finished third Saturday at the Wartburg Invitational in Waverly, Iowa, with captain Cassy Norton finishing tied for fourth, shooting a 77.

St. Thomas finished the tournament with a score of 323, falling short of St. Olaf (312), and Wartburg (315).  

The original two-day tournament was cut to one as Sunday’s play was canceled due to the weather after the teams completed on a couple holes. Coach Sara Evens said Sunday’s weather in Waverly was very cold with 25 mph winds and no sun.

Evens also said the Tommies were excited to finally get a chance to play this weekend after uncooperative weather canceled two tournaments.

“The team knows what they have to do this spring, so I would’ve have wanted the opportunity to move up,” Evens said. “We were fired up to play, and we know what we have to do this spring.”

Norton said it was the mental aspect of the game that helped her do so well in the tournament featuring 59 golfers.

“Keeping the mental game in check, just having a positive attitude and knowing that everybody is in the same conditions,” Norton said about the importance of staying focused. “Making the best of the situation and keeping a good mental attitude.”

Including Norton, five Tommies finished with scores below 85. Doyle O’Brien (78) tied for sixth, Kristin Tischer (82) tied for 14th, Sophie Tuttle (83) tied for 17th and Erin Dingmann (85) tied for 22nd.

Evens said the team can learn a positive lesson from the one-day tournament.

“Even if it was one day and third place, that means we beat the teams we needed to beat,” Evens said. “We at least played well the first day to give us a good finish after one day.”

Next up for the team is the Carleton Invite in Northfield, Minn., April 27 and 28.

Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.