Tara Thomas ’25 and the Bison found  success this past weekend, as they ended in what they soon discovered to be unprecedented territory in the history of Bucknell women’s golf.

The team dominated the Bucknell Invitational Tournament with a school-record-tying 296 in Saturday’s second round, and ended up leading the field by 15 strokes in their eventual win of the tournament. The Orange and Blue were led in this tournament by sophomore sensation Tara Thomas, who won the individual title in convincing fashion.

Thomas set 18 and 54-hole Bucknell scoring records, and even included her first career hole-in-one at the par-3 sixteenth hole. When asked if Thomas knew she would get off to such a great start, she stated that she knew she had always had room for improvement, and that this weekend was simply a result of her putting it together. 

“I kept telling my coach and parents that I felt like I was leaving strokes out there,” Thomas said. “I consistently came in with a decent average and score for every tournament, but I kept saying that I felt like I could get lower. This week I really just drilled with my coach and worked on the things I needed to work on and it all came together on the home course.”

Thomas also mentioned her joy for her teammates when hearing about the rest of the team’s success. There are only 10 members of the Bucknell Women’s Golf team, which makes for a unique close-knit team. When further reflecting on the weekend, Thomas attributed her success to her teammates and coaches, as their preparation leading up to the tournament was a large part of their historic weekend. 

“The way we compete in practice really allows for us all to get better. We are a small team but we all push each other and I think this year we have a renewed energy on the team. Having a new coach has allowed for us to implement new gameplans and practice strategies that she’s brought, which has definitely led to us all getting better scores,” Thomas said.

The inspired Bison have brought this new energy and channeled it directly onto the golf course, as the team scoring average of 306.6 through three tournaments is currently under the team record for low average in a fall season, which is 310.1 and was set in 2019. The team looks forward to continuing this historic hot start at Patriot League rival Navy’s home Navy Fall Invitational in Annapolis, Maryland on Oct. 1 and 2.