The challenging Annbriar Golf Course plagued many golfers Sunday at the Midwest Shootout. But the Washington University women’s golf team was fortunate enough to have one exception on its team: freshman Andi Hibbert.

The Colorado native shot a 79 during the rain-shortened tournament to lead the Bears (336) to a tie for fifth out of 13 teams. Hibbert also recorded the lowest score of any Division III golfer, placing sixth overall. D-II tenth-ranked University of Indianapolis (316) won the tournament, while Maryville University led the D-III programs with a third place finish, edging out Wash. U. by just five strokes.

Rolling fairways with plenty of elevation changes, fescue, water on 11 of 18 holes, nearly 100 sand traps and inclement weather challenged the golfers during the tournament.

Hibbert, who has now posted four straight rounds of 80 or better, acknowledged that coming from Colorado, a state where cold weather is common and flatness is preternatural, was beneficial in the tournament.

However, Hibbert admitted she was not immune to the effects of weather.

“The rain definitely affected me a little bit with the greens running a little bit slower and the grain changing, and the ball wasn’t traveling quite as far either,” Hibbert said. “It affects us a good bit mentally too having to deal with the weather and coming in prepared to play 36 holes.”

Freshman Allyson Chee also performed well, in spite of the adversity, turning in an 82 for her second-best round of the season. She tied for 16th, marking the first time all season that freshmen posted the two low scores on the team.

“The course itself was not too difficult, but the cold and rainy conditions during the day definitely played a part in the higher scores seen throughout the field,” Chee wrote in an e-mail. “I think I did fairly well that day because I wasn’t putting a ton of pressure on myself to shoot a really low round. I was just trying to stay focused and do the best I could given the conditions.”

Head coach Sean Curtis has been pleased by his entire freshman corps, noting that Hibbert’s consistency has proven her to be “exactly what we thought she’d be” and that it was nice to see Chee finally piece it all together.

The weather took a more noticeable toll on the rest of the team. Sophomores Hannah Buck (86) and Melanie Walsh (89) both turned in their highest rounds of the fall and finished in ties for 28th and 39th respectively. For Buck, it was the end of two remarkable streaks—seven straight top-25 finishes, including at last year’s nationals, as well as seven straight rounds of 80 or better. Walsh also had her worst finish of the season and increased her scoring average more than a full stroke in just the single round.

Nevertheless, Curtis was not concerned about the sluggish performance from his two typical leaders.

“Annbriar was a legitimate test…It’s got everything; plus, the weather made things tough for the entire field, including the D-II schools,” Curtis said. “Things happen in golf for whatever reason, and [the team has] proven [that] they’re good players and [that] they know how to prepare for a tournament and bounce back.”

Freshman Marcy Koonce also tied with Walsh for 39th with an 89. Junior Sarah Miller shared 44th place with a 91, and senior Caroline Larose took 64th with a 102.

The team’s fall season wraps up this weekend, Oct. 2-3, with the Prairie Star Shootout at The Rail Golf Course (round 1) and Springfield Piper Glen Golf Course (round 2) in Springfield, Ill.