NCAA Regional Objective Completed
The ultimate goal for Cal women’s golf was to compete at the NCAA regional this May, where 72 teams qualified. Lately, the team has had a trend of beating its score at every new tournament, yet nothing is certain when it comes to the NCAA regional.
The Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championships took place April 18 to April 20.
On Monday, the Bears finished their first round in 11th place at 25-over par.
“The team is capable of much more,” said Cal head coach Nancy McDaniel.
On Tuesday, play was suspended due to inclement weather. Before play was suspended, the Bears had the fourth best score of the round that day. Their performance was significant since they were at 3-over par. They did much better than the previous round.
A notable performance from this round on Tuesday was Jasmine Lew, who shot at 2-under par 70. Something surprising was that the Bears’ second round was better than Stanford’s, a team that is ranked No. 1. At this point of the round though, five teams still had not competed due to the weather.
The blue and gold placed 11th overall at the Pac-12 championships at the Eugene Country Club. Oregon, ranked No. 2 nationally, took first place. This is a similar result to the one at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club, where Cal finished in 11th place and Oregon took the win.
Players who performed well for the Bears were Eun Soo Jeon and Mika Jin. Jeon placed 39th at 12-over par, while Jin placed 40th at 13-over par.
Being at the Pac-12 championships was an opportunity for the team to compare its performances nationally. There were teams ranked in Golfweek’s top 10, top 25 and top 50. Cal had a national ranking at No. 53.
After finishing the regular season and competing at the Pac-12 championships, the Bears certainly have an idea of what competing against top teams is like.
Cal women’s golf is one of the 72 teams advancing to the NCAA regional. They’ll be on to Stillwater, Oklahoma to compete.
Anahi Tabares covers women’s golf. Contact her at atabares@dailycal.org.