Bardunias Medalist as Women’s Golf Runs Away with NKU Spring Fling for Fourth Win of Season

Sunday, March 15

Vero Beach, Fla. (Sandridge GC)

8 a.m.

Bucknell University

NKU Spring Fling

Bardunias Medalist as Women’s Golf Runs Away with NKU Spring Fling for Fourth Win of Season

3/15/2026 1:52:00 PM | Women's Golf

RESULTS

VERO BEACH, Fla. – Coming into the 2025-26 campaign, the Bucknell women's golf team had won 10 tournaments in its 27-year history. On Sunday, the Bison clinched their fourth win this season alone, posting a 301 team score to run away with a 10-shot victory at the NKU Spring Fling at Sandridge Country Club. Sophia Bardunias held off teammate Lila Smith to win the individual title, and Nicole Yun (T-5th), Joelle Johnson (T-8th), and Katherine Vice (11th) all finished in the top 11.

Bucknell posted rounds of 310-300-301 in the 54-hole event, and the 911 total was tied for eighth-best in team history and third-best on a course other than the Bucknell Golf Club. The Bison took a five-shot lead over St. John's with Saturday's 300, and they outscored the Red Storm 301-306 on Sunday to pull away and win by 10 strokes.

The Bison won three of their five tournaments in the fall – the Bucknell Invitational, the Battle at the Creek, and the Red Flash Invitational – and also finished second at the Navy Fall Invitational. They started the spring campaign with a solid third-place showing at the El Campeon Collegiate and a match-play win over Northern Kentucky earlier in the week, and now they are back in the win column in NKU's spring event.

Sophia Bardunias NKU Champ

Bardunias, who earned First Team All-Patriot League honors as a freshman in 2024-25, had a T-1st finish at the Prospect Bay Intercollegiate last spring but lost out on a match of cards. Now she has a winner's medal after shooting 75-76-72 for a 7-over-par total of 223. Of that +7, six shots came on a pair of triple bogeys at the par-5 fourth hole; she played the other 52 holes in 1-over.

On Sunday, Bardunias birdied the par-5 second hole before running into trouble on No. 4. But she bounced back nicely, posting three birdies and only one bogey over her final 14 holes. After the bogey at 10, she birdied 12 and 14 to get back to even on the day.

Smith played as an individual this week and turned in one of the best performances of her career with rounds of 76-73-76. She jumped into the individual lead with a birdie on her second hole of the day, the par-4 11th, but was later passed by her teammate. Still, the second-place finish was a career best for the junior.

Yun, this week's Patriot League Golfer of the Week, shook off an opening-round 81 with her second straight 74. Back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 highlighted a 2-over final round. Johnson shot 77-76-77 to finish in the top 10, and Vice had a strong tournament with rounds of 79-74-78. She had only one hole worse than bogey all week.

Purdue Fort Wayne's Natalie Papa finished third behind the two Bison with a 10-over 226 (73-79-74), and Northern Kentucky's Ella Hardy (76-70-81), the 36-hole leader, finished fourth at 227.

Bucknell (911), St. John's (921), Purdue Fort Wayne (936), Northern Kentucky (943), and Duquesne (960) were the top five teams in the 11-team field. Patriot League rival Holy Cross was sixth at 968.

The Bison will look to keep their strong play going at the Bermuda Triangle Collegiate at Port Royal GC in Southampton, Bermuda on March 30-31.