FRANKSTON, Texas - With less than two months on the calendar until the NCAA Division III Women's Golf National Championship, the University of Northwestern began its spring season Monday at the Goliath Compression Invitational, held at Pine Dunes Resort and Golf Club. It is the first of four tune-ups for the Eagles before the national tournament, which will be held May 19-22 in Palm Desert, California. Follow along with live scoring from Texas here.

Day One

Paige Johnson (Zimmerman, Minn./Homeschool) showed no signs of rust in her first post-winter round, carding birdies on holes five and 10 for a score of 76 (+4), which puts her alone in second place, one shot back of the lead. Morgan Eckman (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) was solid as well, finishing with three birdies and an 81 (+9), good for a tie for 13th. Brielle Lenz (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) was the next-lowest Eagle, turning in an 89 (+17) that included a birdie on the par-three sixth hole. Coming in at 91 (+19) and in a tie for 38th were Bri Brandt (Blaine, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) and Ellie Rolland (Otsego, Minn./Rogers), while Izzy Lee (Stillwater, Minn./St. Croix Prep) finished things out with a 100 (+28), which puts her in 46th place heading into the final round. As a team, Northwestern sits in seventh place with a score of 339 (+51).

Day Two

The final round produced optimal results for Northwestern, who improved by 18 shots as a team, turning in the second-lowest score in the field (319) to finish in a tie for fourth place overall at +80. It was also another banner day for Johnson, who fired a 77 (+5), with birdies on 16 and 18, to finish at +9 for the week, which gave her medalist honors by three strokes over second place. Eckman finished in 11th place at +16 after shooting a 79 (+7) on Tuesday, while Brandt was steady all day, improving her score by 15 strokes from Monday and carding a 76 (+4) to finish in 18th place at +23 for the tournament. Lenz turned in a second-round 90 (+18) to tie for 35th at +35 overall, and Rolland tied for 40th with a final-round 93 (+22) to bring her event score to +40. Lee improved by 13 shots in the final round, shooting an 87 (+15) to tie for 43rd with a +43 final tally.

Up Next

UNW will return to Minnesota to partake in the UMAC Match Play event on April 17-18 at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar.