When the NCAA Division III National Women’s Golf Championship tees off next week at the Centennial Oaks Golf Club in Waverly, Iowa, the tournament will have a local flavor.
Natalie Daugherty, a 2006 graduate of Switzerland County High School and currently a sophomore at Franklin College, is a member of the Lady Grizzlies Women’s golf team. The team qualified to compete in the national tournament in the fall, and the squad is now preparing to compete against some of the best collegiate golf teams in the nation.
This past weekend, the Franklin team had the chance to travel to Waverly to play on the course where they will compete next week as part of the Wartburg Spring Invitational, which is hosted by Wartburg College.
The Franklin team finished fourth overall in the 11-team field, and defeated Wartburg, a squad that is ranked seventh nationally heading into the championships. Two of the three teams that finished ahead of Franklin are ranked in the top five in the nation, including second-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College of Minnesota and fifth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan.
Wisconsin- Eau Claire, which finished fifth in the tournament, is ranked 16th in the nation, just ahead of 17th-ranked Franklin.
Natalie Daugherty had an outstanding weekend, shooting 18-hole scores of 91 on Saturday and 82 on Sunday to finish 17th overall. Franklin’s Katie Tewell tied for medalist honors in the tournament with a two-day score of 154 – and Natalie Daugherty had the second lowest score for her team.
She holds the Switzerland County High School girls record for low score for a round, and is the daughter of Rob and Kathy Daugherty of Vevay.