Greco Wins Individual Title, Women’s Golf Takes Third at Hamilton Invite

HAMILTON, N.Y. - The Ithaca College women's golf team was back on the links for final-round action at the 2018 Hamilton Invitational at Yahnundasis Golf Club on Sunday. The Bombers looked much sharper on Day Two of the event, shaving 14 strokes off their opening round score to shoot a 349 (+57). Ithaca remain locked into a third position in the final standings, finishing the two-day event with a 712 (+128). The highlight of the day came from junior Peyton Greco who posted some late day fireworks to stave of SUNY Cortland's Danielle Bambola to secure her second career collegiate individual medalist honor. It was also her first-ever two-day event win, as her other career victory came in the weather-shortened Vassar Invitational last year. Paired in the final grouping, Bambola and Greco battled back and forth throughout the day. IC's captain held a three-stroke advantage coming into the day, after carding a 76 (+3) on Saturday. However, Bambola was exceptionally sharp with her putting reads and ball striking and quickly carved into the gap, despite strong play by both golfers. Greco entered the final two holes of the day trailing Bambola by one stroke, but used some late heroics to snatch away the individual victory. Working on the Par-5 18th, Greco drilled a long eagle putt from over 30-feet out to pull ahead by a stroke with one hole remaining. On the final hole of the day, Bambola had a similar length putt for a tying birdie come up just short on a well-read stroke. Greco did well to two-putt for her clinching par to take home the title with a two-day score of 154 (+8). The two-day total broke her previous career best by one stroke. "Peyton has really worked hard on her game this summer and it showed by winning her first tournament of the year," head coach Keith Batson said following the conclusion of play on Sunday. "She really was fantastic this weekend and earned the title with an amazing putt today." The team saw improvements across the board on Sunday, shaking much of the offseason rust off during yesterday's round. In particular, all three freshmen saw drastic improvements and certainly generated some momentum to build upon moving forward this fall. In the player standings, it was sophomore Sophia Israel that backed Greco with a Top-10 finish of her own. She carded an 89 (+16) on Sunday, earning her second career Top-10 honor. The rookie who saw the greatest improvement on Sunday was Caitlin McGrinder. She was exceptionally sharp throughout the day, notching three birdies on her round, en route to a 19-stroke deficit compared to yesterday. She finished the day with an 85 (+12), climbing 11 spots on the leaderboard to finish in 20th-place. Katie Chan saw a one-stroke improvement on Sunday, marking a 97 (+24) to come in 25th-place. Denielle Newmanposted a four-stroke improvement to score a 99 (+26), finishing in 30th-place. "I am really pleased with how the freshmen played today," Batson continued. "We are looking forward to next week and building on the momentum." The Bombers are back in action next weekend when they head to Canton, N.Y., for the two-day St. Lawrence Invitational on Saturday, September 8, and Sunday, September 9.