BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – Little Rock captured its first team tournament title since 2016, winning the 2021 Oral Roberts Spring Break Invitational at the Club at Indian Springs. The Trojans led wire-to-wire, withstanding a late charge from Missouri State to capture the event with a 46-over 898.
2021 Oral Roberts Spring Invitational Final Results (PDF)
The win in Oklahoma marks the 14th team tournament championship in program history and the first since capturing the 2016 Kansas City Shootout. It is the first team title of head coach
Jenna Wylie's coaching career and the first championship for the entire Trojan roster.
Entering Tuesday's final round with a four shot lead, Little Rock made key shots down the stretch, finishing at even-par as a team over the final three holes to best the Bears (48-over 900) by two shots.
All five Trojan competitors finished among the top-12 individually, led by
Agatha Alesson placing third with a 10-over 223 with a final round 5-over 76. Alesson's 223 was one off her tournament low as she registers the first top-10 finish of her Little Rock career and is the highest Trojan finisher in an event since Emelie Blennow placed third at the 2018 Little Rock Women's Golf Classic.
Viktoria Krnacova continued her solid spring season with an 11-over 224, including a final round 6-over 77, finishing fourth in the individual standings. It is Krnacova's third top-10 finish in the last four tournaments and her highest career showing, besting her seventh-place finish at the Texas State Invitational.
Malena Austerslaatt,
Sydney Scraba and
Kellie Gachaga all finished in a tie for 12th individually at 18-over 231. Austerslaatt led the way with a 7-over 78 among the trio with Scraba carding an 8-over 79 and Gachaga posting a 13-over 84. It is the seventh, second and fifth top-20 finish for each, respectively.
Tilde Bocker competed as an individual and put together a strong final round, shooting a 1-over 72 to tie her low round for the year. Bocker finished 11th individually at 17-over 230, marking her third career top-20 showing and the best tournament finish of her career.
Entering the day with a four-stroke lead for first, Scores were higher across the board for the entire field as Little Rock's 26-over 310 was the second-lowest score of the day, two back of the 308 posted by Missouri State as the Bears made their run. Little Rock finished 20 shots better than third-place Oral Roberts (66-over 918) and was 39 shots ahead of fourth-place Wichita State (85-over 937).
Little Rock once again made its move on the par-fives, finishing at 1-over for the tournament with Gachaga and Scraba both finishing at 1-under. Alesson and Krnacova were the top Trojan finishers on par-threes at 4-over with Alesson carding a 5-over on the par-fours with Krnacova at 6-over.
Krnacova led the team with seven birdies for the tournament, ranking second among the field, while Alesson's 36 pars were third among the competition. Bocker, Gachaga and Scraba each finished with an eagle, marking three of the five for the event.
The win should provide some confidence for Little Rock as it now prepares for the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship, being held Sunday, April 18 through Tuesday, April 20 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Trojans enter the conference meet with top-four finishes in each of their last three events.
2021 Oral Roberts Spring Invitational Little Rock Results
Bocker competed as an individual
#LittleRocksTeam
