BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Ivete Rodrigues finished T9 and Jacksonville University women's golf concluded the Hoover Invitational with a fifth-place finish on Tuesday.
 
Three total Dolphins ended up in the top-20 overall in the season-opening event at Hoover Country Club.

"We put ourselves in a great position and had opportunities, just did not put it all together for three rounds," said Head Coach Kathryn Dougan. "We will keep learning and trusting the process as this is a talented group that will undoubtedly improve with each new opportunity throughout the season."

Rodrigues rode some up and downs to her fourth career top-10 finish. After three pars to open the round, she gave back two strokes on her next two holes. She got one back with a birdie on the Par-5 sixth and sank a par immediately following. She found another red number to close out the front-nine, before concluding her day with three more pars the rest of the way. She was tied for fifth-lowest score on Par-4s for the week and her 33 pars led the team as well.
 
Freshman Gemma Burgess came home T13 in her first career tournament. After a tough opening hole, she settled into a rhythm, making four-straight pars. She closed her first nine with two more pars and a birdie on the Par-5 ninth. Her back-nine was not quite as smooth, but she birdied another Par-5, the 11th, and added four more pars, including ending her day with two in a row. She shot a team-best even-par on Par-5s in the tournament and totaled a team-best seven birdies.
 
Casey Powell shot the lowest round of the day for a Dolphin, and finished the event T18. Her day started hot, with three pars and consecutive birdies at one point. She gave a few strokes back over her next two holes, but got another red number on the Par-5 11th. She carded five more pars the rest of the way.
 
Freshman Issy Hopkins battled through a tough final round, finding her way midway through, scoring eight total pars and a birdie on the Par-4 14th. Jenna Fonda had 12 pars in her final round, including a stretch of seven in a row at one point.
 
JU was tied for fourth-best on Par-5s in the field, and made 147 total pars and 28 birdies on the week.
 
The team returns to the course for the Jupiter Women's Invitational on October 9-10 in Boca Raton, Florida.