By Roy J. Akers-www.skyviewsports.net
Basketball has a second-chance tournament. At least they used to have the NIT. NCAA Women’s golf has the National Golf Invitational for programs looking to both improve and showcase improving programs. Santa Clara took that opportunity and defeated nine other Universities including Eastern Michigan in Maricopa, Az.
Final Results
What went right for EMU, Bowling Green, Rutgers and Santa Clara
EMU
The Eagles entered the final day down by eight strokes as a team but made a comeback led by Erina Tan. She carded a three-under 69. Three other Eagles put together final rounds in the 70’s. A final score of 80 rounded out the Eagles scores on day three. The scorecard is here.
Bowling Green
Bowling Green finished 10th at the NGI but they take plenty of positives from their play. _From the SID
Notables
• BGSU opened the tournament with a steady 300 and bounced back from a challenging second round (313) with a 301 in the final round—matching several top-5 teams for one of the better Day 3 scores.
• Ava O’Sullivan led the Falcons with a three-round total of 226 (+10), tying for 19th overall. She recorded 11 birdies, tied for third-most among all players in the field.
• Sammie Dolce tied for 22nd at +11 (227), highlighted by a final-round 73—the lowest individual round by a Falcon in the event. Dolce also excelled on the Par 3s, averaging 3.08 (+1) to tie for fifth-best performance in the tournament.
• Addison Kartusch, BGSU’s top finisher at the MAC Championships, tied for 27th at +13 (229), continuing her consistent postseason play.
• Macie Elzinga (T-35, +18) and Makenna Jones (43rd, +22) also contributed solid rounds, including Jones’ closing 76 and Elzinga’s opening 75.
BOWLING GREEN INDIVIDUL RESULTS
T-19. Ava O’Sullivan – 75-76-75 = 226 (+10)
T-22. Sammie Dolce – 76-78-73 = 227 (+11)
T-27. Addison Kartusch – 74-78-77 = 229 (+13)
T-35. Macie Elzinga – 75-81-78 = 234 (+18)
43. Makenna Jones – 78-84-76 = 238 (+22)
FROM THE CLUBHOUSE
“We had a great week in Arizona. It was awesome to experience postseason for the first time in program history. I could tell we got more comfortable with those feelings throughout the event. I am so proud of our entire team for the work they have put in day in and day out to get us to this position. We all feel extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to compete in May. I want to thank Makenna Jones who played her final event in her career as a Falcon this week. Ever since she has stepped foot on campus she has been a leader on and off the course for us. The team has learned a lot from her in 2 years and we will definitely miss her moving forward.” – Erin Fahey, BGSU women’s golf head coach.
Rutgers
The lone B1G school finishes 7th at the NGI.
Grace Lu led the efforts on the individual end for Rutgers, finishing in a tie for 12th place. Lu played a clean final round, shooting an even-par 72 with birdies on 13 and 17 and 14 pars overall.
Joline Truong joined Lu in the top 15, finishing her freshman campaign with a T15 finish. Truong shot a 3-over 75 in her final round with birdies on 7 and 17.
Lorena Rossettin closed out the event in a tie for 25th, shooting a 2-over 74 in the final round. Rossettin carded a pair of birdies on 8 and 10 with 12 pars in the round.
Emily James shot a 6-over 78 on Sunday, picking up birdies on 13 and 15, finishing the event in a tie for 37th.
Judy Amano competed as a sub on Sunday, wrapping up the RU competitors with a 3-over 75 and birdies on 8 and 18 to finished in a tie for 48th.
The Winners- Santa Clara
Santa Clara women’s golf could not have asked for a better way to cap off their 2024-25 season. The Broncos did what was necessary in Sunday’s final round of the 2025 National Golf Invitational to hold on to their 10-stroke advantage and claim the team title with a three-day total of 22-over 886. The victory is Santa Clara’s first since 2022 when the Broncos won back-to-back titles at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic and the Bobcat Desert Classic.
The Broncos have qualified for and played in the NGI in all three years of its existence. After fifth and third place finishes in the last two years, respectively, Santa Clara finally got over the hump to win the annual postseason event for the first time despite a less than ideal showing in the final round. SCU shot 10-over 298 in Sunday’s final round at the par 72 Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course – a course the Broncos are all too familiar with having played there just a month earlier at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. The score opened the door slightly for Eastern Michigan, who entered the day 10 strokes behind in second place, to make a bid to climb up the board, however despite finishing just 4-over 292 for the day, the Broncos’ performance in the first and second rounds proved too much to overcome.
Freshman Proud Sriwongngam shot even par 72 to finish the event 2-over 218 and tied for third – by-far the best finish of the young golfer’s career. Audrey Brust also turned in even par to finish right on her heels in a tie for fifth at 3-over 219.
ROUND HIGHLIGHTS:
- Sriwongngam’s tie for third was not only a career best, but also the best finish of any Santa Clara golfer this season. She was perfect on the back nine with two birdies on consecutive holes (14 and 15), and had one birdie to counter a bogey and double-bogey on the front nine.
- Brust’s top five finish is also the best of her season individually and the sixth top-10 outing of her three-year career. She turned in five birdies to counter three bogeys and one double-bogey in the final round.
- Kelsey Kim shot 5-over 77 to finish in a tie for 12th at 6-over 222. It was the sophomore’s team-best seventh top-20 finish of the season.
- Chloe Lam (229) and Amy Im (231) finished t-27th and 31st, respectively to round out the Bronco lineup.
- Eastern Michigan’s Angelica Holman held on for the wire-to-wire individual title at even-par 69-74-73–216.
