WAVERLY, Iowa—Alyssa Akiyama (So./Cincinnati/Seven Hills School) likes-no, make that loves-the Prairie Links Golf Club layout, host of the Wartburg Invitational. So do her Carleton teammates.
Akiyama, a year after a sizzling final-round 67 carried her to her first career victory, notched a flawless final-round, two-under par 70 to tie Wartburg’s Brooke Klostermann for medalist honors. The one-under 143, 36-hole total gave Akiyama a new 36-hole school record and propelled the Knights to a come-from-behind victory. It marked her third career victory in only 12 career tournaments.
The Knights, who sat third after Saturday’s first round in trailing St. Catherine by nine and UW-Stout by two, erased the deficit on the Wildcats on the front nine and finally caught the Blue Devils with about five holes left. The Wildcats fell off the pace, leaving UW-Stout and Carleton trading the lead back-and-forth over the final five holes. It was the last three holes, though, that decided the title. Carleton’s top three players—Akiyama, Ayumi Sakamoto (Jr./Honolulu/’Iolani School) and Ziyi Wang (Jr./Beijing, China/Lighthouse Christian Academy)-combined to play the final three holes in three-under par. Akiyama nearly drove the green on the par-4 16th hole, converting the birdie, while Sakamoto and Wang both curled in 20-foot birdie putts on the short par-3 17th. All three made clutch pars on the final hole, securing Carleton’s second win in as many tournaments to start the season, and its fifth straight regular-season triumph.
Carleton ended at 616, including its 304 final round. That tally is the fifth-lowest in school history. UW-Stout was two shots back at 618, followed by St. Catherine and Grinnell (629) and St. Olaf (630).
Sakamoto was Carleton’s second-best finisher, ending two shots outside the top 10 at 78-77—155. Alexis Chan (Fy./Highlands Ranch, Colo./Rock Canyon) had another solid weekend, going 81-78—159, while Wang rallied to finish at 80-79—159. Playing as an individual, Haley Grable (So./ Watkinsville, Ga./North Oconee) fired a career-low 78 in the final round, ending at 160.
“Obviously it was another good win for us,” Carleton head coach Eric Sieger said. “We still made too many mistakes on Sunday, and combined with the double and triple bogeys on Saturday kept us from shooting a really low score. We’ll continue to work on minimizing those big numbers.”
The Knights host the 16-team D3 Classic at Lake City’s The Jewel Golf Club next weekend. Tee times start at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
