MSU women finish 17th at NCAA golf championships, 2 individuals advance to finals

Entering the third round before the first cut of the NCAA Championships needing to make up five shots, Michigan State’s women’s golf team climbed up the standings over the first 14 holes but fell short, tying for 17th place among 30 teams on Sunday afternoon at the La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, Calif.

The top 15 teams and nine individuals (not on advancing teams) after three rounds of stroke-play qualifying advance to play a final 18 holes on Monday, May 20 to determine the individual champion and the top eight teams will advance to match play.

After playing in the morning round in Friday’s first round and finishing the day in 12th place, the Spartans teed off in the afternoon in both the second and third rounds, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday and battled strong winds on the par-72, 6,297-yard course in Southern California.

“We played the back nine again, which was the toughest for sure, especially when it’s windy,” MSU coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “So we played the toughest nine in the windiest conditions, but that’s the way it goes. We made the turn and started making some birdies and we were back in the top-15, struggled down the stretch and just couldn’t finish.

“It was disappointing because I feel like this team is tough and strong. It’s tough when you’re so close to a goal and we would have made history for our program, but we do have two individuals who will get a chance to play for an individual championship. All in all, we made it and there were 243 teams that didn’t, so I’m very proud and we’re proud of what we accomplished.”

Texas A&M continues to lead the championship and enters Monday’s final round of stroke play atop the leaderboard at 10-under par , one stroke ahead of second-place Stanford. LSU is third at 1-under, with Clemson fourth at 2-over and Northwestern rounds out the top-five teams at 9-over par 873.

Only six strokes separated 11th-place Duke (+19) and 15th-place Florida State (+25). The Spartans tied for 17th place at +28.

Despite MSU not advancing to the final round as a team, senior Leila Raines and junior Katie Lu were among the top nine individuals not on advancing teams and will play for the individual championship on Monday. This is the second straight year Lu has advanced to the fourth round of stroke play.

“I am very proud of both Leila and Katie,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “This was a tough day for all of us, but to have our two top players advance and have the chance to play for an individual national championship is an awesome accomplishment. Last year was the first time we had a student-athlete advance to the final round when Katie made it and now to have two Spartans with that chance, it’s pretty special.”

Michigan State entered the day in 19th place and just five shots off the final qualifying spot. The Spartans, who started on the back nine, responded and moved up to as high as 13th place over the first nine holes and remained in the hunt as they made the turn toward the front.

Over the first five holes, Raines and Lu had a pair of birdies and junior Brooke Biermann and sophomore Paula Balanzategui had one apiece as MSU was among a group of teams fighting for the final spot, but the Spartans could not break through as Florida State claimed the final spot by two shots.

Raines led the Spartans tying for 27th place individually at 3-over par 219 (71-73-75), completing the third round with a 3-over par 75. Lu finished her third round with a 3-over par 75 and tied for 34th place at 4-over par 220.

Bierman shot a 5-over par 77 in the final round on Sunday and tied for 86th place at 11-over par 227 (72-78-77).

Junior Shannon Kennedy tied for 128th place at 18-over par 234 (74-78-82) and sophomore Paula Balanzategui tied for 135th place at 20-over par 236 (72-88-76).

The Spartans, who notched a team win this year, posted two runner-up finishes and were among the top-five in eight tournaments, were playing in their third NCAA Championships in the last four year and the 14th under Slobodnik-Stoll.

“It’s hard not to say this year was a total success when our team had a 3.853 GPA this spring, we had this past year the third-ranked highest GPA of all 273 Division I golf teams, we were one stroke away from winning another Big Ten title, qualified for the National Championship, we were three strokes away from making the top-15 so there’s nothing to be sad ashamed about with this group,” Slobodnik-Stoll said.

“Looking back, when you reflect on what we were capable of doing and what we did do this year, it was awesome and the future is so bright for us.”

— MSU Athletic Communications

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's golf: Spartans finish 17th at NCAAs