FORT SMITH, Ark.—The Southern Nazarene University Women's Golf team got an early glimpse of the Great American Conference Championships as they competed at the Hardscrabble Invitational on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. The Hardscrabble Golf Course is home to the 2025 GAC Championships, taking place in just a few weeks from April 21-23.
The Hardscrabble Invitational was the first three-round tournament of the year for Southern Nazarene. The Storm played two rounds on Monday before completing the third and final round on Tuesday. SNU finished 17th after a three-round score of 1,001 (324-351-326). Henderson State won the tournament going away, defeating second placed Midwestern State by 15 strokes. Northwestern Oklahoma State's Romane Lacoste took home the individual title at 8-over.
Haley Whittern led the Crimson Storm and placed T-12 in the field. She led the entire tournament after round one, but struggled a bit in round two, dropping her back to 20th. Whittern bounced back in a big way in round three to surge back up eight spots on the leaderboard. She was fourth in the field in par-4 scoring.
Natalie Lewis finished T-67 in the field after rounds of 81 and back-to-back 84s. Riley Rinner was not far behind at T-74 as she shot 85, 89, and 80.
Esther Santos and Darci DeWitt closed out the Crimson Storm lineup in 88th and 89th, respectively.
SNU will have one more tournament before the GAC Championships. They will head to the Shangri-La Country Club April 7-8 for the Spring Regional Preview hosted by Rogers State.
