Women’s Golf Finishes in Second Place at Big Ten Championships–
By Mike ‘Mex’ Carey of MSU and Roy J. Akers
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s women’s golf team shot a 7-over par 295 in the final round and finished as the runner-up at the Big Ten Championships, held at Bulle Rock Golf Course (par-71, 6,045 yards) in Havre de Grace, Md., just outside of Baltimore.
The Spartans fired a 9-under par 279 in the opening round on Friday to take an 8-shot lead and entered Sunday’s final round with an 11-shot lead, but could not hold on as MSU struggled on the back nine and Indiana finished the day at 5-under par 283 to come back for the win.
Indiana won the Big Ten Championships with a three-round total of 8-under par 856 (288-285-280), while the Spartans finished in second place at 7-under par 857 (279-283-295). Northwestern finished in third place at 1-under par 863, while Michigan and Purdue tied for fourth place (even-par 864).
Junior Katie Lu led the Spartans, finishing in sixth place at 4-under par 212 (70-68-74), including a 2-over par 74 in Sunday’s final round.
The keys to the tournament. Indiana had the fourth and fifth best players at -3 and -2 (Johnson and Smith on the par threes.
Indiana also had one player- Smith played the par fours at seven under. Craig paced Indiana on par 5’s leading all B1G golfers at 5 under as she tied with Yermish of Michigan with the same score.
For MSU, Sophomore Paula Balanzategui, who led the tournament after the first round and moved back into the lead in the third round, shot a 3-over par 75 on Sunday and tied for seventh place at 2-under par 214 (67-72-75).
Senior Leila Raines had the team’s best round of the day on Sunday with a 1-over par 73. She tied for 14th place overall at even-par 216 (71-72-73). Graduate Valentina Rossi shot a 2-over par 74 on Sunday and tied for 17th place at 1-over par 217 (71-72-74).
Junior Brooke Biermann shot a 4-over par 76 in the final round and took 36th overall at 6-over par 222 (75-71-76) and classmate Shannon Kennedy tied for 40th place at 8-over par 2224 (78-72-74).
The selection show for the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Regionals will be held on Wednesday, April 24. The selections will air live on the GOLF Channel from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Michigan State will host a regional at the Forest Akers West Golf Course.