Disappointment is a feeling the Wildcats can’t seem to shake. Northwestern’s 2012 season came to a sudden end with an 18th place finish at the NCAA East Regionals this weekend. It is the third straight year the Cats have failed to advance out of the NCAA Regionals.
“We really weren’t at our best these last months of the season,” coach Emily Fletcher said. “We were disappointed for sure that we didn’t play better.”
The team was plagued with inconsistency throughout the final weeks of competition, leading to its disappointing score in State College, Pa.
“We had good spurts during rounds, but we just haven’t been able to fight through and put 18 holes together,” Fletcher said.
The Cats couldn’t seem to find a rhythm early on, which left them fighting to catch up the rest of the weekend. They were in 16th place after the first round on Thursday, and by the last round Saturday, Fletcher said it was clear they weren’t going to advance.
Each round was better than the last, but it simply wasn’t enough to put the Cats where they needed to be.
Freshman Hana Lee led the team during the second round of the tournament and finished 87th. Her first appearance at the competition wasn’t exactly what she expected.
“It was pretty disappointing to end our season not as well as we wanted,” she said.
The Cats found most of their success in Saturday’s final round.
Sophomore Devon Brown and senior Alex Lederhausen scored eagles, and freshman Brittany Mai shot the lowest Saturday score in her postseason debut.
“We’ve had a promising year but didn’t quite get the results we wanted in the spring,” Lederhausen said.
Fletcher said the Cats broke free from their early struggles too late, shooting the final 18 with their lowest score of the tournament, a 15-over 303.
Brown shot her way to a 41st-place finish in her second year at regionals, the best overall score of the Cats. She finished the final hole of the course in only three shots for her eagle, beating her previous two scores on the hole by a stroke.
Fletcher said she was impressed with various aspects of Brown’s performance but didn’t think the sophomore lived up to her potential.
“She’s got better golf in her than what we saw these three days,” she said.
Brown’s eagle on the final hole of the course meant more to her than just a number of strokes. The sophomore dedicated the hole to Lederhausen, because Brown looked up to the senior who was competing in her last event as a Cats’ golfer.
Lederhausen called the experience “surreal.” Fletcher said she considered Lederhausen and herself “freshman together,” because Fletcher began coaching at Northwestern four years ago.
“She’s definitely been someone who’s made significant contributions to our program,” Fletcher said.
Lederhausen shot the only eagle of the entire weekend on hole No. 11 and finished the tournament in 83rd place after her best round of the tournament on Saturday.
Though she found the finish disappointing, Fletcher said it was in no way proof of the talent her team has. The finish gives her more motivation for the upcoming season, when all but one of the five starting golfers return.
“We’ve seen some really good golf, and the overall level of talent and ability in our program is improving every year,” she said.
