Noor Ahmed fired a final-round 72 to finish in a tie for ninth individually in a loaded 82-player field at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic at the Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande on Tuesday.
Ahmed, a sophomore from Folsom, Calif., closed the 54-hole tournament with a three-round total of 218 (74-72-72) to finish at two-over on the par-72, 6,164-yard layout on the River Course at Rio Mar. It was the first top-10 finish of Ahmed's collegiate career and it was the best finish among the 30 Big Ten golfers in the 14-team tournament field, which included No. 13 Northwestern, the hosts from No. 29 Purdue, Maryland, Indiana and Nebraska.
Ahmed's solid final round helped the Huskers produce their best team round of the tournament, closing with a 301 to finish with a 915 over three rounds. Nebraska settled for 14th in a field that featured nine of the nation's top 50 teams, according to the GolfStat team rankings.
No. 11 Kent State captured the team title with a three-round score of 866, while No. 7 Arkansas took second at 870. Virginia Tech earned a third-place finish with an 878, while No. 13 Northwestern finished fourth at 879.
Junior Kate Smith notched Nebraska's No. 2 individual finish with a three-round total of 226, including a final-round 74, to tie for 45th. Redshirt freshman Kirsten Baete carded her best round of the tournament with a five-over 77 to finish in a tie for 73rd at 238. Freshman Vanessa Bouvet added a 78 to complete Nebraska's team score on the day. Bouvet finished in a tie with teammate Haley Thiele for 76th overall at 239.
Freshman Megan Whittaker finished off a solid tournament while playing as an individual outside the Husker lineup. Whittaker tied for 64th with a 54-hole score of 233, including a final-round 78. It marked the second consecutive tournament that Whittaker has matched her career-low tournament score with a 233, joining her total at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown during the fall.
East Carolina's Dorthea Forbrigd and Kent State's Karoline Stormo shared medalist honors with a three-round score of 209 (-7). Both golfers fired identical rounds of 69 on Tuesday. Virginia Tech's Emily Mahar finished third at 213 (-3), while Hokie teammate Elizabeth Bose tied with Kent State's Pimnipa Panthong and Maria Fassi from Arkansas for fourth at even-par 216.
Nebraska will return to action at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 24-25.
Lady Puerto Rico Classic
Rio Grande, P.R. (Host: Purdue)
Rio Mar Country Club
River Course (Par 72, 6,164 Yards)
Feb. 10-12, 2019
Final Team Results
1. (11) Kent State - 292-288-286-866 (+2)
2. (7) Arkansas - 289-296-285-870 (+6)
3. Virginia Tech - 298-291-289-878 (+14)
4. (13) Northwestern - 302-292-285-879 (+15)
5. East Carolina - 297-291-294-882 (+18)
6. (21) TCU - 290-301-292-883 (+19)
7. (29) Purdue - 292-296-299-887 (+23)
8. (35) Georgia - 299-293-298-890 (+26)
9. (45) Iowa State - 304-297-290-891 (+27)
10. (48) Augusta - 300-301-294-895 (+31)
11. Maryland - 307-292-298-897 (+33)
12. Indiana - 300-303-300-903 (+39)
13. (50) NC State - 300-307-298-905 (+41)
14. Nebraska - 304-310-301-915 (+51)
Final Individual Results
T1. Dorthea Forbrigd, East Carolina - 67-73-69-209 (-7)
T1. Karoline Stormo, Kent State - 69-71-69-209 (-7)
3. Emily Mahar, Virginia Tech - 72-71-70-213 (-3)
T4. Elizabeth Bose, Virginia Tech - 71-74-71-216 (E)
T4. Maria Fassi, Arkansas - 71-73-72-216 (E)
T4. Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State - 75-72-69-216 (E)
T7. Monika Hartl, NC State - 76-71-70-217 (+1)
T7. Kaylee Benson, Arkansas - 71-73-73-217 (+1)
T9. Noor Ahmed, Nebraska - 74-72-72-218 (+2)
T9. Linda Lundqvist, Augusta - 71-78-69-218 (+2)
T9. Harmie Constantino, Georgia - 72-72-74-218 (+2)
T9. Chloe Salort, Kent State - 70-76-72-218 (+2)
Nebraska Individuals
T9. Noor Ahmed - 74-72-72-218 (+2)
T45. Kate Smith - 74-78-74-226 (+10)
*T64. Megan Whittaker - 78-77-78-233 (+17)
T73. Kirsten Baete - 82-79-77-238 (+22)
T76. Haley Thiele - 78-81-80-239 (+23)
T76. Vanessa Bouvet - 78-83-78-239 (+23)
*competed as an individual outside Nebraska's lineup