Women's Golf Looks to Keep Momentum Flowing at Charlotte Invitational

Women's Golf October 15, 2023 Becca Ball

Women's Golf Looks to Keep Momentum Flowing at Charlotte Invitational

HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point University hopes to build on its success in the upcoming Charlotte Invitational that is set to start Monday morning, hosted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Event Info
Oct. 16-17 | 54 holes | Cabarrus Country Club | Concord, N.C.
Monday, Oct. 16 | 36 holes | Tee-times off at 1st/10th holes | 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 17 | 18 holes | Shotgun start | 9:00 a.m.
Live Scoring

Teams
Belmont, Charlotte, Marshall, MTSU, Princeton, Queens, Radford, Utah Tech

"I'm excited for Charlotte this week," HPU Women's Golf Head Coach Lyndsey Hunnell said. "We played in this event last year and struggled. I believe it will be a good test for our team to see what kind of level we are at. The course can be challenging and you need to place your ball on the correct spots on the greens. Luckily, the majority of the team has already seen this course from last year, as well as Maddie who competed on it last year while she was at EKU. So we already know what to build on for course management from last year's experience. "

Freshman Anna Howerton will be the first person on the lineup for the Panthers followed by Ella Perna, Julia McLaughlin, Danielle Suh, and Maddie Hensley. Ana-Elena Kusters will be competing as an individual. Four of the six Panthers attending the tournament have played on the course before, as Coach Hunnell mentioned. Howerton and graduate transfer McLaughlin are the only two who haven't played the course yet before, but Howerton believes she and the team are ready for the challenge.

"The team is playing really well," Howerton said. "We had a great showing at Grandover and I know we can play well in Charlotte. If we go in and just focus on each shot and not get ahead of ourselves, the results will come. Coach has prepared us well in practices, always improving our short game. She makes most practices and drills into games where we have to complete a step or drill before we move on. This helps us with shots under pressure and confidence."

Last time out, HPU claimed its second consecutive championship at the UNCG Collegiate while breaking two school records in the process. The first record HPU broke was the team's 36-hole record. High Point shot an even 576, while the record previously stood at four-over 580. Later, the Panthers crushed HPU's 54-hole record which was previously 5-over 869, until the team finished the tournament with an incredible score of 6-under 858.

This amazing team performance was led by Howerton. While leading the Panthers in their record-breaking tournament, Howerton shattered three school records for herself and collected a collegiate low round. She first broke HPU's low opening-round record with a 6-under 66, which become Howerton's collegiate low round. Next, the freshman broke HPU's 36 hole record by shooting 11-under 133. Howerton rounded out the tournament by breaking High Point's 54-hole record by shooting a 15-under 201.

Perna started the tournament with an even 72, before shooting 1-under the next two rounds for a 2-under 214 finish for fourth place. McLaughlin had the third-best finish for the Panthers with a top-20 finish at T16. McLaughlin carded a 75 and a 74 in the first two rounds before improving to an even 72 in the third. Suh wasn't far behind McLaughlin, finishing in the top-20 as well. Suh carded a 222 total to land T19. Hensley was the last Panther in the lineup, making her debut in Purple & White and using a third-round 2-over 74 for a total of 233, placing her T56.

"Going into the tournament, I knew I was hitting the ball well enough to play steady golf," Howerton said. "My mindset going into the first round was to make pars, and if a birdie putt drops, great. My putting has always been average, but at Grandover it was definitely a highlight. After the first 18, I knew I could lean on my putter to score well if I put myself in the positions. I focused on hitting good shots into greens and this allowed me to capitalize with a putt made.

"This week going into Charlotte, I plan to keep the same mindset. I know I'm not always going to play like I did at Grandover, but staying level mentally, especially on the 36 hole days, is something I will infiltrate into every round."

#GoHPU

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Players Mentioned

Ana-Elena Kusters: Junior

Ella Perna: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Danielle Suh: 5' 7"; Senior

Julia McLaughlin: Graduate Student

Maddie Hensley: Graduate Student

Anna Howerton: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ana-Elena Kusters
: Junior

Ella Perna
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Danielle Suh
: 5' 7"; Senior

Julia McLaughlin
: Graduate Student

Maddie Hensley
: Graduate Student

Anna Howerton
: Freshman

High Point University Athletics

Colonels Schedule

Events and Results

Events and Results

Women's Golf Looks to Keep Momentum Flowing at Charlotte Invitational

Women's Golf Looks to Keep Momentum Flowing at Charlotte Invitational

Players Mentioned

Ana-Elena Kusters

Ella Perna

Danielle Suh

Julia McLaughlin

Maddie Hensley

Anna Howerton

Players Mentioned

Ana-Elena Kusters

Ella Perna

Danielle Suh

Julia McLaughlin

Maddie Hensley

Anna Howerton