KEWADIN, MI. — The Loyola Chicago women's golf team finished in a tie for fifth place at the A-Ga-Ming Invitational to open up their 2026-27 season. The highlight of the tournament for the Ramblers was junior Grace Hui, who finished as the individual runner-up.

Loyola opened the event with a solid first two rounds, placing second entering the final day, but slipped into a tie for fifth place at the conclusion of the A-Ga-Ming Invitational, ending with a final score of 36-over-par (+8, +6, +22), which is the team's best 54-hole score since the 2022 Cardinal Classic. Host Central Michigan took home the team title with a final score of four-over-par, while Bowling Green's Addison Kartusch successfully defended her individual title with a score of five-under-par. 

"We played two great rounds this weekend. I was really happy with the second round in particular. The wind picked up quite a bit after the morning round, and we made the necessary adjustments, " said head coach Brandy Johnston. "The third round got the best of us today, but we learned some lessons we can take into our next tournament."

The Ramblers were led by Grace Hui, who finished the event in second place with a score of -2 (-2, -3, +3). This is Hui's second consecutive runner-up finish at a tournament and is her fourth career top 10. Hui's final score is a new career-best and is the first time since Serena Shah's performance at the 2022 Cardinal Classic that a Rambler finished an event under par. Hui's three-under-par, 69-stroke second-round performance was also her new career-low round and was the best individual round for Loyola since Cassie Psuik's round two at the 2023 Dayton Flyer Invitational. In addition, Hui led the entire tournament field with a career-high 14 birdies. 

"Grace had a great tournament and has so much to be proud of," continued Johnston. "It took a 64 from Addison Kartusch to beat her. She came back ready to play this year and has shown tremendous growth. Big things are in store for her."

Hui entered the third and final round with a two-stroke advantage over the rest of the field, and jumped out to a good start Monday through six holes, pushing her lead to three strokes. Hui then double-bogeyed hole seven and bogeyed hole eight, leading to a tie for the lead at three-under-par with Central Michigan's Lexi Schulman. Hui responded impressively by playing holes nine through seventeen at two-under par and bogey-free to get her back to even par on the day and five-under-par for the event. 

Hui was the 53-hole leader when she got to hole eighteen, just one stroke ahead of Bowling Green's Addison Kartusch, who got herself back into contention Monday by being seven-under-par through seventeen holes. While Kartusch birdied her final hole to end her tournament at five-under-par, Hui triple-bogeyed hers, causing her to fall out of first place for the first time all day and Kartusch to successfully defend her A-Ga-Ming Invitational title. 

For Loyola, the play of freshman Brooke Adams and sophomore Maureen O'Leary were other bright spots from the first tournament of the season. Adams finished as the second-best Rambler in her collegiate debut with a score of +12 (+3, +3, +6), landing her in a tie for 30th place. O'Leary ended in a tie for 34th place with a career-best score of +14 (+2, +5, +7), and her two-over-par, 74-stroke first-round performance was the best of her career. 

In addition, sophomore Robbin Zetrouer finished her Loyola debut in a tie for 41st with a score of +15 (+5, +4, +6), while junior Madison Haugen ended with a final score of +16 (+6, +2, +8), landing her in a tie for 45th place. Freshman Sofia Afable, who played as an individual this weekend, finished her collegiate debut with a score of +31 (+14, +9, +8). 

The Ramblers will be back in action next week when they head to Paducah, Kentucky for The Velvet Classic, hosted by Murray State, Sept. 14-15.