This time last year, the Flagler College team van was headed east across Florida, from Destin back home to St. Augustine, with the bitter taste of a close call. Santiago Cavanagh’s team loves competing at the Raven Golf Club at Sandestin, but a one-shot loss to Nova Southeastern did not sit well.
On Tuesday, the results swung hard the other way, with Flagler College riding high on a 21-shot victory for that trip back east.
“It definitely makes it extra special knowing how we felt to lose last year being so close,” Cavanagh said. “This is one of our favorite events, we love the golf course, it’s challenging. The whole week is very special. I know how much the girls wanted to win this week.”
In Flagler’s second start of the fall season, the team claimed the Golfweek Division II Fall Invitational title by going 5 over at the Raven Golf Club. The Saints built an eight-shot lead in the first round and never looked back, finishing 21 shots ahead of runner-up Rogers State.
Flagler set a new program record for lowest 54-hole score and also broke the record for lowest round with their final-round 5-under 279.
“The golf course was in great shape, just like it was last year,” Cavanagh said. “The greens were just a little bit softer than last year and so that made it better. But the first days, it was extremely windy. We had about 15 to 20 mph wind both days. Finally, today was a little bit less, probably 8 to 12 so it was a little more manageable. But the golf course is awesome.”
Individually, Stella Jelinek, a sophomore from Germany, finished 54 holes at 4 under to medal by five shots over Lydia Sitorus of Rogers State and Yuliana Yapur of Texas A&M International. Jelinek opened the week with a 2-under 69 but had a tough round on Day 2 and backed up to 74. On Tuesday, she posted her first collegiate bogey-free round, a 5-under 66, and calmly pulled away.
“She wanted to win it really bad. She didn’t have the round she wanted yesterday and she started behind today,” Cavanagh said. “She stayed calm all day. It was a very close fight until the end, she just kept playing her game. When you make five birdies and no bogeys, you’re going to close the gap for sure.”
After last year’s close call at the Golfweek event, Flagler rallied to win its home event three weeks later. Last spring, the Saints were second in the Peach Belt Conference Championship and advanced to an NCAA Division II Super Regional, where their season ended.
The start to this season was a little jarring as Flagler arrived at the NCAA D2 South Region Preview at Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, Tennessee, ready to start a strong fall campaign and finished ninth out of 17 teams.
“We went up there feeling very good and not having the finish you want, it’s like a bucket of cold water,” Cavanagh said.
The disappointing opener motivated his team to come home, work harder and prepare smarter for the next tournament – not a hard task considering how much Cavanagh’s players love this stop on the schedule.
Cavanagh looks down this year’s lineup and likes the mix of experience and new blood he sees. It’s a long, tough road the rest of the year, with Flagler’s own Fall Slam and the Rollins-hosted National Championship Fall Preview – to be played at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida – on tap for later this month.
“We’re going one tournament at a time and I definitely have a team that I’m not surprised when I see these numbers,” he said.
