The Illinois women’s golf team finished in fourth place at the Clemson Invitational in Sunset, South Carolina, Tuesday.

The No. 22-ranked team, according to figthingillini.com, had a strong performance through all three rounds, finishing play Sunday in third place and Monday in fourth place. Tuesday’s final round was canceled due to inclement weather toward the end of the play, making the Monday standings the final standings.

With a team score of 574 for both days, the Illini broke the previous 36-hole record. According to the Illinois record book, the team’s previous record was 579, set last year at the Lady Buckeye Invitational at Ohio State. The Illini will be returning to the Midwest to compete in the tournament this Saturday and Sunday.

Junior Tristyn Nowlin competed at Augusta, Georiga, from April 4-6 and finished tied for 18th in her first tournament for Illinois this spring.

The Illini were led by freshman Kornkamol Sukaree throughout the tournament. Sukaree finished tied for eighth but climbed to third place Tuesday before play was suspended.

“It was really nice and pretty hilly,” Sukaree said. “It was a pretty challenging course with the wind and the rain and everything.”

Other Illini included senior Bing Singhsumalee, who finished tied for 35th, freshman Crystal Wang, who finished tied for 41st, sophomore Ali Morallos, who finished tied for 90th, and Nowlin. Freshman Katie Hallinan competed individually and finished tied for 65th.

Nowlin had yet to compete for the Illini this spring until this tournament after recovering from a wrist surgery she had in early February. The weekend was a busy one for Nowlin, who met up with the team at Clemson following play at Augusta Saturday. She hasn’t yet talked to the team about her experience at Augusta, but head coach Renee Slone said Sunday night the team will discuss Nowlin’s tournament experience when they return to campus.

In addition to the bad weather at the tournament, Slone said the course was in a mountainous area, which made it a challenge for the team to succeed. To top it off, the team had never played in a Clemson tournament.

“Every golf course is unique and is different in some ways,” Slone said. “At the end of the day, it’s a matter of just gathering the information that’s needed to plan a successful strategy and then executing it.”

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