Gallagher and Ball State Claim Brittany Kelly Classic Titles

YORKTOWN, Ind. - - Ball State senior Sarah Gallagher claimed her first collegiate victory, sinking a 22-foot putt for birdie on her fourth playoff hole to cap a thrilling day of action in the final round of the Brittany Kelly Classic at The Players Club at Woodland Trails.

Gallagher, who was playing as an individual, started the day with a one stroke lead but a rough start saw her briefly fall out of the top spot. However, she used a birdie on the par-five 15th to gain some momentum and followed with two more birdies on holes two and four to climb back into contention.

She finished the round at +5 (77), and combined with her first two rounds, shot +2 (218) for the tournament to tie for the top spot on the final leaderboard with Ohio's Zoe Luebbers to force a playoff.

The pair each made par on the first three holes (Hole 1 / Hole 9 / Hole 1), with Gallagher sinking a pair of long putts on her second (14 feet) and third (16 feet) to stay even. That was just a warm up, however, as Gallagher's second shot on the par-4 18th, the fourth hole of the playoff, landed 22 feet from the cup.

It was not a problem for Gallagher, however, as she drained her third straight long put to win the hole, the playoff, and medalist honors.

On the team side, the Cardinals captured its third straight Brittany Kelly Classic title by shooting a closing-round +13 (289) to finish the event at +24 (888). It was 13 strokes ahead of second-place Dayton which finished at +37 (901).

Sophomore Sophie Korthuijs was the top performer on the team, just missing the playoff and tying for third overall at +3 (219). She added three more birdies over her final 18, tying with Gallagher and two other players for the overall event lead in the category.

Seniors Sabrina Langerak and Jasmine Driscoll tied for sixth overall, both finishing at +6 (222). One big highlight of Langerak's round came on the par-5, 469-yard 15th when she chipped in for just the second eagle of the tournament, following Driscoll's from the second round. Driscoll finished her final round with four birdies, upping her tournament total to 10, which was fifth among the 49-golfer field.

Freshman Skylar Dean also turned in a top-10 effort, tying for ninth overall at +10 (226) in her first collegiate meet. She tied Driscoll for the lowest team round of the day, at +2 (74), with birdies on four of her first 11 holes. The effort raised her tournament total to seven.

Rounding out Ball State's lineup was junior JJ Gregston who captured 13th at +12 (228). Gregston's final-round effort included two birdies and 10 pars.

In other individual action, junior Jenna Estravillo carded the lowest round of the day, coming in at -1 (71). The effort included four birdies and 11 pars and tied as her collegiate-low round.

Overall, all nine Cardinals turned in rounds of +5 (77) or better on the final day, including a +2 (74) from junior Madelyn Young and a +5 (77) from senior Madelin Boyd.

The Ball State women's golf team returns to action next Tuesday with the first two rounds of the Red Raider Invitational at the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas, hosted by Texas Tech.

Gallagher and Ball State Claim Brittany Kelly Classic Titles

Players Mentioned

Madelin Boyd

Skylar Dean

Jasmine Driscoll

Jenna Estravillo

Sarah Gallagher

JJ Gregston

Sophie Korthuijs

Sabrina Langerak

Madelyn Young

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