MSU women remain in first place by 3 shots after second round of NCAA golf regional
Two days down, one to go.
And the Michigan State women's golf team remains in great position to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
After a blistering first round on Monday earned them an 11-stroke lead, the Spartans slid back a bit Tuesday but kept things together to remain in first place at the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional at the PGA National Resort Champions Golf Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
MSU sits at 5-over-par 581 after two days of the three-day event, three shots ahead of a familiar foe in second place — Big Ten rival Northwestern. Duke and South Florida are tied for third place at 12-over-par, one shot ahead of Texas.
The Wildcats stormed into contention on Tuesday, leading the field with a 4-under-par 300. The Spartans had just the sixth-best round of the day at 8-over 296, but it was enough to keep a comfortable overall lead heading into Wednesday's final round. The top five teams, and the top two individuals not on advancing teams, will all move on to the national championships May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“I think we fought hard out there today,” MSU coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “The wind definitely picked up this afternoon so coming through those last couple of holes was a little bit tougher. All in all, everyone is still feeling pretty good about what we’re doing and we’re just going have a big meeting tonight about where the plans will be and having a good plan for our back nine.”
Three Spartans remain in the top 10 of the individual leaderboard. Sophomore Brookie Biermann, the first-round leader, shot a 1-over 73 and is tied for third at 2-under, two strokes behind the leader Sara Byrne of Miami. MSU's Valentina Rossi is in seventh place at 2-over after shooting a 74 on Tuesday. Teammate Leila Raines is one stroke further back and tied for eighth after shooting a 72.
“The first two holes I bogied and I didn’t hit bad shots, but just got myself in bad positions,” Biermann said. “I just told myself to keep being patient out there. I knew the wind would pick up on the back nine, which is the tougher nine, so I just kept patient and did the best I could and ended up playing better. Shots aren’t always going to go on the green, but you have to get up and down and grind when you can.”
The other two Spartans are Katie Lu, who is tied for 38th at 7-over after shooting a second-round 80 and Shannon Kennedy, who is tied for 51st at 12-over after a 77 on Tuesday.
The Spartans tee off on Tuesday morning at 9:06 a.m., playing alongside Northwestern and Duke.
“The vibes have been good all week with the team,” Biermann said. “I’ll have to talk to them, but I think we’re really pumped. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and stay focused on what we need to do.”
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's golf: Spartans lead by 3 in NCAA golf regional
