ST. GEORGIA, Utah – The mantra for the California women's golf team all season has been “match play”. The team talks about it regularly and even has the phrase written on a shirt to remind each other about one of the ultimate goals of the season.
Saturday, Head Coach Nancy McDaniel's team moved one step closer to reaching the match play when the Bears finished the St. George Regional sixth with a 297-305-298=300 (+48), advancing California to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Women's Golf Championships for the first time since the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
“It's really special for this team,” McDaniel said after her team claimed a nine-stroke advantage over New Mexico State for a berth in the NCAA Championships that will be held May 22-27 in Bradenton, Fla. “Regionals and NCAA's have been in the back of our minds all spring. We planned greatly by coming here in March (for the BYU Entrada Classic) and getting to know this course. The plan worked out, and that feels really good for these guys and all of us involved.”
The top six teams in the regional earned their spots to the NCAA Championships, and Cal's spot was never in danger after the opening-round 297 on Thursday. In addition to it being back-to-back seasons of advancing, it is also a stretch of three out of five years going to nationals and the ninth appearance total.
Also advancing are regional champion USC (880, +28), Stanford (886, +34), Arkansas (892, +40), UNLV (895, +43) and Virginia (898, +46).
“It's a tough tournament to make,” McDaniel said of advancing out of reigonals. “For a team to again be 38th ranked in the country and be able to play well at the right time at the end of the season – when finals are going on as well – says a lot about how much this team wants it.”
Junior Pauline Loulier led Cal with a 13th-place finish after scoring a 68-77-78=223 (+10). Sophomore Lucia Gutierrez tied for 26th on the individual leaderboard with a 77-76-73=226 (+13) after she shot a 2-over 73 in Saturday's final round, highlighted by two birdies on her last four holes. Freshman Marthe Wold also shot a 73 Saturday to place 34th individually with a 77-78-73=228 (+15). Wold hit par on 15 of 18 holes in the final round, with an offsetting bogey and birdie on the par-4 3rd and 4th, respectively, giving way to a double-bogey on the par-4 17th.
“The play from them, I was really happy with the team paly and everyone contributed in a solid way,” McDaniel said of Gutierrez and Wold with their team-leading 73's Saturday. “Having them step up today was definitely needed. They were right there and ready for it. Hannah (Suh) also played really well today despite hitting a few balls into the lava. That gave us comfort into the last few holes, which are the toughest holes by far. I just like the team effort.”
Junior Carly Childs carded a 3-over 74 Saturday to place 46th on the individual leaderboard. Suh also had a very strong final round that was derailed only by the par-5 16th hole that caught a large number of golfers this weekend courtesy of the lava surrounding the hole. Suh was on pace for a final-round 75 before scoring a 10 on the hole, but the junior stayed steady and finished 63rd with a 79-74-80=233 (+20).
“Luckily its five, count four, and we were able to stay on it with Pauline right behind her,” McDaniel said. “Pauline was solid all week and had a great up and down on the last hole. Playing in the number one spot the whole week for her gives us a lot of confidence going into nationals that we're five strong.”
The NCAA Championships will be held at the 6,468-yard, par-72 Concessions Golf Club from May 22-27. The first three rounds of stroke play take place May 22-24 with the top 15 teams at the end of 54 holes advancing to a final round of stroke play competition on May 25 that will determine the 72-hole NCAA individual champion. The top eight teams will then participate in match play competition that will conclude on May 27 with the NCAA team champions crowned.
“It comes at an interesting time or us with final exams,” McDaniel said of NCAA's. “It's the same for a few other semester schools. We're used to it and train all year long for that purpose. Sometimes we put in tournaments in the East in the fall just to practice for this. These guys have been doing stuff all year that has been trained in a way to get a lot done. This week we've put a lot of hours into studying. We'll go home and have a few days off to get their final studying in, and then get down there next Tuesday and start practicing for the marathon of national championship. Match play is a mantra of ours. That's what you want. You want to get to match play and anything can happen. Going to San Diego (earlier this season) was definitely a piece of (preparation for it). More schools are hosting match play events for that reason. We had good experience and found out we had good match play players, so we're ready to get there.”
COURSE: Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club (par 71; 6,255 yards) – St. George, Utah
FORMAT: Three-day, 54-hole tournament with 18 holes each day. The top-four individuals from each five-member team with the lowest scores for each 18-hole round constitute the scoring members for that given round. The top six finishing teams and the three highest placing individuals not on one of those six teams will advance to play in the NCAA Women's Golf Championship Finals at The Concession Golf Club (Bradenton, Fla.) from May 22-27.
CAL LINEUP
T13. Pauline Loulier – 68-77-78=223 (+10)
T26. Lucia Gutierrez – 77-76-73=226 (+13)
T34. Marthe Wold – 77-78-73=228 (+15)
T46. Carly Childs – 75-81-74=230 (+17)
T63. Hannah Suh – 79-74-80=233 (+20)
COMPETING TEAMS1. USC – 293-292-295-880 (+28)
2. Stanford – 304-292-290-886 (+34)
3. Arkansas – 306-296-290-892 (+40)
4. UNLV – 301-304-290=895 (+43)
5. Virginia – 308-296-294=898 (+46)
6. California – 297-305-298=900 (+48)
-- THE TOP 6 TEAMS ADVANCE --
7. New Mexico State – 305-306-298=909 (+57)
8. TCU – 313-302-295=910 (+58)
9. Vanderbilt – 319-297-296=912 (+60)
10. SMU – 308-303-303=914 (+62)
11. San Diego State – 315-310-291=916 (+64)
12. Colorado – 316-308-294-918 (+66)
T13. Wisconsin – 303-308-308=919 (+67)
T13. Middle Tennessee State – 313-303-303=919 (+67)
15. Miami (Fla.) – 316-306-302=924 (+72)
16. Denver – 315-308-307=930 (+78)
17. Northern Arizona – 317-323-311=951 (+99)
18. Albany – 331-322-326=979 (+127)
