ALBANY — Rob Ivey said the Southland golf team is like the stock market.

“We take two steps forward and one step back. That’s our golf strategy,” he said.

If that’s the case, the Raiders’ stock dropped on Thursday at Doublegate Country Club in Albany. Kathryn Fowler led the Raiders with a 75 as they finished third behind Deerfield and Stratford.

Deerfield shot a 2-over-par 290 on its home course and the Knights are the clear favorites to win the state tournament on Monday, considering Doublegate is the site of the championship. Stratford scored a 313 and Southland had a 332.

“For Deerfield to lose state, there’d have to be a train wreck,” said Ivey. “They have three really premium golfers and their bottom two are not bad. It’s theirs to lose.”

Deerfield’s T.J. Mitchell was the low medalist with a one-under-par 71.

Southland’s Peter Lee scored an 82, Mason Law shot an 83, and Sean Kobs and Jay Buchanan each had a 92.

“This was our first time playing the course this year,” said Ivey. “I think we learned some things about the course today. With our practice round on Sunday, I think we’ll get a better idea of how to play the course. We had a couple of guys who had a bad day today, but we can play with Stratford.”

If Ivey’s theory of the stock market holds true, the Raiders’ stock should rise and the scores should be lower on Monday when the first set of golfers take the tee at 10 a.m.

“I expect a better score than that on Monday,” he said. “I think we’ll be improved, that’s what we’ve done all year. We want to be in the top bracket of teams. We’d like to be in the top five, and anything better, that’s great.”