Women’s Golf Team Posts 3rd-Straight Top 20 Finish– B1G Teams SCAL, Oregon, and Northwestern move on
By Mike ‘Mex’ Carey – with Roy J. Akers of www.skyviewsports.net
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s women’s golf team made a run after making the turn onto the back nine of the third round on Sunday but could not close the gap and the Spartans finished in 18th place among 30 teams at the NCAA Championship, being played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The 30-team field, playing on the par 72, 6,330-yard course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, was cut to 15 teams after Sunday’s third round of stroke play and the Spartans fell just six shots shy of making the cut.
Top-ranked Stanford was the leader in the field at 23-under par 841, with Northwestern second at 8-under par 856, Oregon third at 2-under par 862, Southern California fourth at even-par 864 and Florida State in fifth place at 3-over par 867.
UCLA and Mississippi State tied for 14th place at 18-over par 882. Michigan State finished in 18th place at 24-over par 888 (2904-303-291).
The Spartans entered the third round in 20th place following a 15-over par 303 in Saturday’s second round but played the first nine holes on Sunday (starting on the 10th hole) in 8-over par and fell to 23rd place and were 10 shots off the cut line.
Once MSU moved to the front nine for its final nine holes, the team moved. Seniors Katie Lu and Brooke Biermann posted birdies on the 1st hole and the Spartans played the first six holes of their back nine in 7-under par, pulling to within four shots of the cut line. That was as close as they would get, posting the team’s best round of the weekend at 3-over par 291.
Playing in her final NCAA Tournament, Lu was the team’s top finisher, tying for 45th place at 5-over par 221 (72-78-71). She posted a 1-under par 71 in the final round, with four birdies, and was one shot off the cutline to advance to Monday’s final round of stroke play. Lu, who twice advanced to the fourth round of the NCAA Championships, will leave Michigan State ranked fourth all-time in scoring average.
Junior Paula Balanzategui tied for 63rd place at 7-over par 223 (75-73-75), including a 3-over par 75 in the final round. She tied for 10th in the field with 40 pars during the three rounds.
Senior Brooke Biermann and sophomore Ana Sofia Murcia both tied for 76th place at 8-over par 224.
Biermann, who will leave Michigan State ranked third all-time in scoring and owns three of the top-20 single-season marks in program history, shot an even-par 72 to finish at 8-over par 224 (75-77-72). Biermann had four birdies on her final nine holes.
Murcia shot a 1-over par 73 on Sunday with a pair of birdies to finish at 8-over par 224 (73-78-73).
Junior Taylor Kehoe tied for 91st place at 10-over par 226 (74-75-77), closing with a 5-over par 77 on Sunday.
MICHIGAN STATE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
- Michigan State closed out one of its most successful seasons with a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships and followed that with a third-place finish at the NCAA Normal Regional the 25th time in the last 26 years being selected to the regionals.
- The Spartans then advanced to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in the last five years, the 17th time in program history and the 15th time under Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.
- The team’s 18th place finish marked the program’s third-straight top-20 finish and the fourth in the last five years.
## Spartans ###
