BOLIVAR, Mo.— The Drury women's golf team completed a stellar comeback, winning the Drury Invitational at Silo Ridge Country Club by two shots on Tuesday.

The Panthers entered the final day of the Drury Invitational four shots back of Missouri Southern, three behind Illinois Springfield, and one behind Lewis. Drury came out firing with strong front nine play from all their players. Grace Stafford and Taryn Overstreet were sensational for the Panthers, finishing the front nine at one under and even par.
 
Drury began to separate from the field with the battle for first place becoming a back-and-forth match with Northeastern State. The conditions on day two were much stronger and difficult than that of Monday's round. Drury Coach, CJ Ball, knew handling the conditions would be the deciding factor, remarking "playing in the wind is always a challenge, but this is our home course and we know how to play the shots needed to win here".
 
The Panthers certainly showed their experience and resilience with phenomenal saves down the stretch by several players. Isabelle Thrall found herself in a tough buried lie just off the green on hole ten. Thrall preceded to play a perfect pitch shot that released at just the right speed, falling into the cup for a birdie. Freshman, Reagan Martin, had several key up and downs including rolling in a long par putt on the eleventh hole. Taryn Overstreet needed a par to keep the Drury team lead at two, playing a flop shot onto the green from a short-sided position and brutal lie. Overstreet drilled the ten-foot putt to save par and keep the Drury lead in a commanding position.
 
The Panthers secured the two-shot victory with clutch pars from Overstreet and Stafford on their final holes to finish with a team score of 610, despite the valent efforts of Northeastern State. Illinois Springfield finished ten shots back of Drury and placed third. The Drury win was the fourth since Coach Ball took over the program in the 2019-20 season.
 
Northwest Missouri's Madi Schlaepfer took first place individually, with a score of 150 (+6). Drury finished with four players in the top 15, including Taryn Overstreet who tied for second with a score of 151 (+7). Grace Stafford finished tied for fourth at 152 (+8) and Reagan Martin finished tied for eighth at 153 (+9). Isabelle Thrall rounded out the top fifteen for the Panthers with a score of 154 (+10), finishing tied for eleventh.
 
The Panthers will continue their fall season when they travel to Hot Springs, Arkansas on October 8^th and 9^th. Drury will play in the Battle for the Belt hosted by Henderson State.
 
#allweDUiswin