After an unexpected injury to top golfer Emily Price, the Kent State women’s golf team fell to a tie for 11th out of 16 teams at the Valspar Augusta Invitational in Augusta, Georgia.

Price, a junior, injured her wrist in the first round and could not play again, so the Flashes could only count the scores of four other players. Usually a team counts the best four of its five scores. 

“Emily started on hole five,” coach Lisa Strom said. “Unfortunately, on her 14th hole, which was actually hole 18 of the course, her ball was on top of pine needles. She didn’t think there’d be a tree root under her ball. When she made the swing, the club struck the ground and her wrists tried to keep moving like they naturally would with that much speed and she felt a twinge.”

The team finished with a total score of 18-above-par 882. 

“It’s not even where we thought we would be, but we just have to be better,” Strom said. “It’s not that they’re not good. It’s that they are really good and they need to continue to hold themselves up to that standard because they’re not that far off.”

Sophomore Caley McGinty led the Flashes with a total score of four-below-par 212 and tied for 11th. 

“Week in and week out we know we can count on her,” Strom said. “Overall she’s playing really good golf. There’s a reason she was an all American last year.”

The team is looking to regroup, as the players will compete among each other to qualify for a spot at the upcoming Clemson Invitational. 

“This team is not lacking talent,” Strom said. “Our big message, even after yesterday’s round, was we just have to be better at the little things.” 

Pilar Lewis is a sports reporter. Contact her at [email protected].