With the aspirations of defending its national title from last season, the No. 12 ASU women’s golf team cemented its spot in the NCAA Championships on Wednesday afternoon at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, WI.
In the NCAA Regionals, and in a field where the top six teams qualify for the NCAA Championships, the Sun Devils finished fourth at 1 under par. That tied them with Ohio State to earn a bid to the championships.
Day One:
In the opening round on Monday, the Sun Devils shot an even round, which put them in fourth place.
Senior Sophia Zeeb helped lead the way by recording the lowest round for the Sun Devils (70), and she would finish the day tied for seventh in a 96-player field.
In addition to Zeeb, senior Roberta Liti tied for 18th on Monday, and sophomore Olivia Mehaffey shot a 73 to tie for 26th position.
Rounding out the Sun Devils roster, freshman Raquel Olmos tied Mehaffey in 26th, and junior Madison Kerley shot a 74 on the day.
Day Two:
On the second day of action, ASU had yet another solid performance from its senior class. Zeeb and Liti manufactured another low round, and they were backed by Olmos, who birdied on five of her first nine holes.
Kerley shot a 73 on Tuesday, while Mehaffey shot a 72, and Olmos shot a 71 to round out another consistent performance for the Sun Devils, who stayed locked in fourth position with Oregon State.
Day Three:
With just one round to play on Wednesday, ASU needed to play with a small margin of error to put themselves into the championship, and that is exactly what the Sun Devils did.
ASU shot a total of 863 after three rounds, and that put them at 1 under par to finish the regional. The mark was good enough to ascend them into the championship rounds that will take place next week on Friday, May 18 through Wednesday, May 23 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
As for the rest of the field, No. 4 Duke ran away with the regional by shooting 14 under par. No. 31 Virginia was 5 under par, No. 6 USC was 2 under par, and No. 44 Ohio State tied the Sun Devils.
No. 13 Northwestern was last year’s runner-up to ASU in the national championships, and they made the final cut line by shooting an even round over the course of three days.
With the Sun Devils’ 34th all-time NCAA Championships appearance set to begin next week, ASU will look to become back-to-back national champions beginning next Friday.
A start time has yet to be determined for the Sun Devils.
Reach the reporter at atbell1@asu.edu or follow @AndrewBell7 on Twitter.
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