Central’s Paulson leads Dutch in own tourney
PELLA—Central College junior Sarah Paulson (Ottumwa) opened with an 86 to take a share of the Central Spring Invitational women’s golf lead Friday.
The Dutch fired a team score of 374 and are in second place behind Northwest Missouri State Univ., which shot 360. Luther College is third at 392 and AIB College of Business is fourth at 477.
“I’m happy we’re in contention,” coach Tim Wilkinson said. “It’s not out of the question for us to close the gap, but we have to play better tomorrow.”
Paulson is tied for first with Northwest Missouri State’s Cassie Lowell. They both shot 14-over par at the Bos Landen Golf Club.
Junior Ali Miller (Davenport, North HS) shot an 89 to tie for fourth place. Allison Crooks (senior, Moline, Ill.) is 11th at 98, Kara Stadtlander (sophomore, Manning, IKM HS) is 12th at 101 and Christina Lee (sophomore, Huxley, Ballard HS) is 18th at 109. Playing as individuals, Katelyn Paul (freshman, Maquoketa) is tied for 15th at 106 and Amanda Jacobson (freshman, Waukee, Iowa Christian Academy) is tied for 21st at 117 in the 25-player field.
“I thought the players did a good job managing their game on the course today,” Wilkinson said. “They made good decisions on what shots to use and where. It’s definitely a positive.”
With Northwest Missouri State in reach, Wilkinson said the Dutch will need to sharpen their short game to take the lead in the final round Saturday.
“We need to chip and putt a little better to shave some strokes off our score,” Wilkinson said. “The greens are phenomenal right now and we’ll work to tighten things up as we battle for the title.”
