All hopes of the Iowa women’s golf squad finishing the season the way it began were dashed at the Onion Creek Challenge on Tuesday. The Hawkeyes tallied a three-round score of 914, finishing 11th out of the 15 participating teams in Austin, Texas.

Iowa State won the tournament with a score of 884. The Cyclones posted three-round scores of 287, 288, and 309. Following the Cyclones were Arkansas-Little Rock and Illinois with scores of 887 and 890, respectively.

“It was a very disappointing end to a great fall season,” head coach Kelly Crawford said. “We didn’t do much right today. I’m happy for Kristi and proud of her finish this week.”

Crawford was referring to sophomore Kristi Cardwell, who led the Hawkeyes both days of the tournament and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place with a three-round score of 218.

Cardwell began the second day in 11th place and settled in seventh after a final round score of 75. Her most impressive score came in round two when she recorded three birdies and only two bogeys, which enabled her to end the round with a 69 (1-under).

“I feel great about how I played,” Cardwell said. “I tied my record for three rounds at 8 over par. I know our team could have done a lot better, but it happens. We can’t take it back now; we can only learn from it.”

The next highest finisher for the Hawkeyes was junior Chelsea Harris, who ended in 29th. She began incredibly strong with a first-round score of 72. The next round Harris remained solid with a 75, but the final round proved to be a struggle. Her nine bogeys and one double bogey took a toll on her score, and she ended with a final-round score of 80.

Entering the tournament Harris had the lowest average score for the Hawkeyes.

“I am disappointed in my performance,” she said. “I didn’t really do anything well. The team’s performance was not what any of us expected, and none of us are too pleased.”

The three remaining Hawkeyes were Lauren Forbes, who finished in 49th, Gigi DiGrazia (63rd), and Laura Cilek (71st). Forbes compiled a three-round score of 232. DiGrazia carded scores of 78, 78, and 82.

“I played well the first two rounds,” Forbes said. “I struck the ball well and gave myself good chances to make birdies, but the putts just didn’t fall. [Tuesday] I just couldn’t get anything going and got behind early in the round.”

Cilek, who led the Hawkeyes for the majority of their previous tournaments, struggled throughout the competition. Her play was riddled with bogeys and double bogeys, and she carded only four birdies in the three rounds. The third round proved to be the toughest — Cilek recorded her worst score of the season, 89.

This wasn’t the ending the Hawkeyes had intended on, but they have plenty of time from now until spring competition to shake off this performance and improve.

“We are all very disappointed in our scores,” Forbes said. “This was not how we expected to play. We will let this one go, and learn from our mistakes, and prepare over the winter for our spring season.”