D'Ostroph and Bensch lead Lady Bucs to third at Wendy's Invitational

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Charleston Southern seniors Amanda D’Ostroph and Katelyn Bensch both grabbed a top five finish to lead the Lady Bucs to a third place finish at the 2012 Wendy’s Invitational, which concluded on Tuesday at Rivertowne Country Club.

The pair of CSU seniors helped CSU to a final round 309 and tournament total of 905 for the 54-hole event. Richmond, which topped CSU by 13 strokes, won the event with a total of 893 after a 306 on Tuesday.

Wofford jumped into second place, one stroke ahead of CSU, following a 301 in the final round, the lowest team total of the day. Appalachian State finished fourth and Armstrong Atlantic State finished fifth to round out the top five teams.

Richmond’s Tracy Martin claimed medalist honors with an even-par 72 on Tuesday at the Arnold Palmer Signature Course. She finished the tournament with a 1-under total of 215, two strokes ahead of AASU’s Jenna Birch (+1).

D’Ostroph played her first six holes at 1-under and finished the final round with a 76 (+4). She had a birdie on each nine to finish in sole possession of fourth place, six strokes back with a total of 221.

Bensch had an up-and-down 75 (+3) in her final round, CSU’s low round of the day. She finished with four bogeys, a double bogey, and three birdies, including sinking a 40-foot putt from the fringe on the par-3 fourteenth. She finished the tournament at 6-over, a stroke back of D’Ostroph.

Bensch and D'Ostroph earned All-Tournament Team honors, along with Richmond's Martin and Courtney Rousse, AASU's Birch, and Appalachian State's Rumbidzai Masamvu.

"I think Amanda and Katelyn showed their senior leadership by the way they performed this week," CSU Director of Golf Mike Wilson said following the tournament. "Both played extremely solid with very few mistakes. I'm proud of the team for their effort this week. We learned a valuable lesson this week, the importance of every single shot. I hope we can continue to improve throughout the fall and off season. This team can make a run at the conference title."

Freshman Casey MacNeil followed up her 1-under 71 on Monday afternoon with a 79 (+7) in her final round. She finished tied for 11th,, her best career finish to-date.

Junior Vanessa Jay finished the tournament in 37th after her second consecutive 79 (+7). She was 1-over on her round after a birdie on the 12th hole, before struggling down the stretch.

Fellow junior Torey Johnson finished 43rd after an 81 in her final round, which included three birdies.

CSU’s Viktoria Enhager, playing as an individual, finished 62nd with an 87 in her round.

"I would like to thank all the volunteers, Rivertowne Country Club, and our sponsor Wendy's Restaurants and Mike Giunta for making this event possible."

CSU has one tournament remaining in its fall schedule. The Lady Bucs will play in the nearby Palmetto Intercollegiate on Johns Island on Oct. 28-29 at Oak Point Golf Club.