Bucknell Women’s Golf stayed home for the Bucknell Invitational, inviting Mount St. Mary’s, Bryant, St. Francis, La Salle, Niagara University and Bloomsburg to compete alongside them.

It was a successful weekend for the Bison as they were able to defend their home turf and dominate the tournament by fifteen strokes (+65), with Mount St. Mary’s finishing in second place at +80.

Tara Thomas ’25 took home a first place finish with a final tally of +6, consisting of a first round 77, second round 69, and third round 70. She finished nine strokes ahead of the rest of the competition, with the Mt. St. Mary’s opponent finishing the invitational at +15. 

Bucknell also had three more women landing in the top ten, with Viveka Kurup ’25 grabbing a T3 finish at +16, Paige Richter ’26 earning a 6th place finish at +17, and Kelsey Yi ’24 coming in at a T9 placement at +22. 

It was a special day for Thomas, though, as she holed her first ever ace in a tournament at the sixteenth hole during the third round. A slam dunk where the ball never even touched the green, Thomas soaked in the moment. “I was in shock and then was overwhelmed by excitement. It is super special to have my first hole in one on my home course at the home tournament.”

After a slow start to the tournament, Thomas found her swing and really delivered for her team to secure a win.

“Over the last couple of weeks the team and I have been working very hard on our games. We really focused on our short games and being confident around the greens,” Thomas explained.

Bison Women’s Golf definitely seems to be headed on the right track as the season progresses. Bucknell led scoring on par 3’s (3.31) and par 4’s (4.39) for the weekend while also being the only squad to make an eagle for the invitational. 

They will head to Annapolis, MD this weekend for the Navy Invitational as the team hopes to keep the momentum swing in their favor.