Wednesday marked the last day of the fall season for the Longhorns, and it ended exactly how they wanted it to — with a win at the Betsy Rawls Invitational.

Battling high winds, Texas finished with a final overall score of 880, +16. The team cruised through the final round to finish 12 strokes ahead of the runner-ups Florida, Tulsa and Pepperdine, who all tied for second.

This is the second tournament win of the season for the Longhorns and the first time they have won their home invitational since 1999. Furthering their success in the Longhorn Invitational, senior Nicole Vandermade won the tournament individually. It was her first collegiate career win, and it couldn’t have been better for her.

“It feels amazing,” Vandermade said. “It has been a long time coming. I’ve been working really hard. I knew my game was there.”

It was even better for her doing it on her home course.
“It is awesome,” Vandermade said. “My parents are both here and all my peers are here in addition to the whole team. It feels amazing.”

Junior Madison Pressel came in second place individually, only a stroke behind Vandermade. Junior Katelyn Sepmoree finished the tournament at 13 over par, tied for No. 35, while juniors Desiree Dubreuil and Haley Stephens finished tied for 39th and 47th places, respectively.

Fifth-year head coach Martha Richards couldn’t be prouder of her teams’ second season victory.

“I thought they did a great job battling the wind,” Richards said. “It was tough out there the last two days. The greens are fast and the golf course played pretty fair. It was a great test. I was really pleased with their patience and perseverance. I think that made all the difference for us.” 

Printed on Thursday, November 3, 2011 as: Horns cap season with win, take Betsy Rawls Invitational