The reigning national champions are going back to California. After placing fourth at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional on Wednesday, No. 32 Northwestern qualified to move on to the NCAA Championship Finals in Carlsbad, California.
Junior Ashley Yun, who finished as runner-up in last year’s regional, secured first place individually, marking her second career victory. Senior Dianna Lee, who is ranked 86th nationally, tied for second place.
All three rounds of the regional took place at the 6,260-yard, par-71 course at Michigan Golf Course in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Yun took the lead in the opening round Monday after shooting a 5-under-par 66 and never looked back. She followed up her performance with a 2-under 69 in the second round Tuesday and a 2-over 73 in the third round Wednesday, finishing 5-under overall.
Finishing 4-under par overall, Lee fired a 1-under round to start the week before shooting an even par round and a 3-under round. She has qualified for the finals all four years of her collegiate career.
Sophomore Megan Meng finished in a tie for 26th. She carded a 3-over round Monday, a 1-over round Tuesday and a 4-over round Wednesday to finish 8-over par overall.
Freshman Lauren E. Lee fired a career-best 2-under-par 69 in the first round, but her 9-over and 12-over results Tuesday and Wednesday put her in a tie for 50th at the end of the tournament.
Rounding out the ’Cats, sophomore Hsin Tai Lin finished in a tie for 55th after shooting 3-over, 8-over and 12-over in each of the three rounds.
As a team, NU finished in a tie for the third-best performance on par-3s, averaging 3.20 strokes per hole and carding 12-over. The squad went even par on par-5s, the fourth-best performance in the regional.
After finishing tenth of 18 teams at the Big Ten Championships in April, the ’Cats put on a national championship-quality performance at the Ann Arbor Regional. They will continue play at the Championship Finals, hosted by the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa from May 22 to 27.
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