NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Abby Newton shot 71-70-70=211 to finish 2-under for the tournament and lead the Georgia Southern women's golf team to a third-place finish at the Yale Invitational Sunday at Yale Golf Course.

The Eagles finished three strokes ahead of James Madison and six ahead of tournament host Yale. Harvard won the event, and Maryland finished second. It was the Eagles' first tournament of the 2022-23 season.

Newton was one of three Eagles to finish in the top-20 and took third place, three strokes behind Meiyi Yan of Harvard in second. Sarunchana Rattanasin tied for 16th after shooting 72-75-72=219, and Karlee Vardas shot 70-74-76=220 to tie for 19th. 

The Eagles led the tournament in par-3 and par-5 scoring. Rattanasin tied for sixth with 11 birdies, and Newton tied for eighth with 10. 

Newton was bogey free on the back 9 all weekend and played the side 6-under combined in her three rounds. Rattanasin was bogey free on the back 9 today and posted birdies on 13, 14 and 16.

Scores
Team – 287-289-292=868 (+16), 3
Abby Newton – 71-70-70=211 (-2), 3
Sarunchana Rattanasin – 72-75-72=219 (+6), T16
Karlee Vardas – 70-74-76=220 (+7), T19
Meiqi Gao – 75-70-77=222 (+9), T28
Alex Stevenson – 74-77-74=225 (+12), T41

Quotables from head coach Mimi Burke
"We saw a lot of great things out there this weekend. The fight from start to finish showed the competitiveness of this group."

"We are proud of the top-3 finish and looking forward to building off this momentum moving forward; however, we know we have a few things to clean up before heading to Vanderbilt next weekend. Time to get back to work. Hail Southern!"

Next Up
The Eagles compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship Sept. 23-25 at the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Club.