Ortega's dominant tournament win leads to freshman earning Heart weekly honor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the first time in the history of the Clarke University women's golf program, a member of the Pride has earned the Heart of America Women's Golfer of the Week when conference officials announced CU freshman Amalia Ortega took home the weekly honor on Monday.

Competing at the Loras Fall Invite at The Meadows Golf Club in Asbury, Iowa, the Quito, Ecuador native came one stroke shy of the school record with an opening round 74 and would follow it up with a 75 to finish with a tournament total of 149, the best 36-hole tournament score in program history, which was previously 152.

She earned the individual victory by 14 strokes over her teammate and fellow freshman Rose Halle as four of the top eight scores in the tournament came from members of the Pride with senior Holly Elliott finishing in fifth and junior Rose McCartney finishing in eighth place.

The Pride shot a two-round total of 652 with a 332 on Sunday's first round and improving on that score by 12 strokes on Monday in the final round to run away from the field after holding a 15-stroke lead on Sunday over eventual runner-up Simpson before being 22 strokes better than Simpson on Monday for the first tournament victory for CU women's golf since April of 2016 when they earned the final of their five wins that season at their own hosted Clarke Spring Invite on Apr. 22, 2016.

Full Heart Release: https://heartofamericaconference.com/general/2025-26/releases/20250922ke381o

Clarke women's golf will get back on the course a week from today when they host their lone home tournament of the fall when they play at Eagle Ridge South Course on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 29-30.