BOULDER CITY, Nev. – Junior
Anna-Maria Diederichs secured an individual title for Rutgers women's golf at the Jackrabbit Invitational on Tuesday in Boulder City, Nevada. Competing in her first tournament since she suffered an injury this past fall, Diederichs fired off a seven-under-par 209 (72-66-71) to finish four strokes ahead of the tournament's runner-ups.
Diederichs is the first individual champion for the Scarlet Knights since Harriet Allsebrook won the 2019 Juli Insker Invitational in Fairfax, California.
Up four strokes with 18 holes to play, Diederichs produced a one-under-par 71 in the final round, highlighted by four consecutive birdies on holes 10 through 13. The performance helped Diederichs - who finished the tournament with an 18-hole low 66 in the second round and a tournament-best 13 birdies - secure the first tournament title of her collegiate career.
"It was great to see my hard work payoff here after the last few semesters of training," Diederichs said. "It was great to be back competing with my teammates and I really enjoyed every moment of today's round. I felt nervous in my first few holes but was able to relax and focus on playing the game, rather than whether I won or not. We'll look to be back in this position in our last few events of the season."
After it held the lead and set program records for lowest 18 and 36-hole team totals the day prior during the first and second round, RU finished fourth in the 16-team field with its eight-over-par 872 (
297-279-296). Middle Tennessee State won the team title with its even 864 (
289-292-283), followed by host South Dakota State (+3) and Missouri State (+7).
"While we are not happy with the finish, I am proud that we were in this position for the final round," said head coach
Kari Williams. "I know this group will be back at the top of a leaderboard soon. Our play this morning was a bit hesitant and defensive to start, but we battled back in the middle to close the scoring gap. We weren't able to finish how we wanted but this is an incredible learning experience for us. Anna-Maria's play was fantastic this week and we a happy to celebrate her big win."
Classmate
Leigha Devine produced a three-over-par 219 (75-70-74) to tie for 16th in the 91-player field. Devine also came under par on Monday during Rutgers' impressive second round with her two-under-par 70 and closed her tournament with eight birdies spread out across three rounds of play.
Freshman
Lucrezia Rossettin (T/24), senior captain
Maeve Rossi (T29) and sophomore
Rikke Nordvik (T29) all secured top-30 finishes to round out the team scorecard. Nordivk added RU's other under-par round with a one-under-par 71 in the second round on Monday.
Rutgers also fielded a secondary squad that finished ahead of five other varsity programs in the field. Sophomore
Annalie Swanepoel and rookie
Lily Huerlimann led that unit with tied-for-43rd scorecards, as Swanepoel added an impressive one-over-par 73 on Tuesday to move up 12 spots on the leaderboard.
The Scarlet Knights get several weeks off before their next outing at the Buckeye Invitational from April 16-17 in Columbus.
Final Results - Jackrabbit Invitational
Final Results - Jackrabbit Invitational
