Cowgirls advance at NCAA Championship, Tulsa concludes season
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Twentieth-seeded Oklahoma State women’s golf secured its spot inside the 54-hole, 15-team cut with a 12-over 300 in the third round at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club on Sunday.
Tulsa concluded its first trip to the NCAA Championship since the 2007-08 season with a 307 and finished 29th.
With the result, the Cowgirls moved their weekend total to 7-over and ended the day in 11th. On Monday, Oklahoma State will look to make up its 2-stroke deficit to Arizona and Texas A&M, who are currently tied for seventh, to advance to match play for the second time in program history.
Having missed the 54-hole cut last season, Sunday marked Oklahoma State’s first time advancing to Monday since 2021, when it went on to finish as National Runner-Up.
“It was good to see them come back with some birdies at the end of both rounds,” head coach Greg Robertson said. “We’re right where we want to be. I mean, gave ourselves an opportunity to get to match play and we’ve got to show up and be ready to compete tomorrow.”
Pacing the team once again, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard signed off on a 2-over 74 to put her in a three-way tie for third. She trails the leader, Catherine Park of USC, by four strokes heading into the fourth and final round.
The Big 12 Champion rebounded nicely from a slow start and carded back-to-back birdies on holes No. 6 and No. 7 to surge back up the leaderboard.
Hinson-Tolchard is looking to become the program’s second-ever National Champion after Caroline Hedwall did so in 2010. Oklahoma State has compiled 11 top-10 individual finishes at the NCAA Championship, and Hinson-Tolchard is in prime position to add to the list for the time in 13 years.
“Again, she didn’t get off to the greatest start, but like she always does, she played hard,” Robertson said. “She’s a competitor and birdies two of her last three to get her up (near the top). She’s been in these positions before and I know she loves to be there. Looking forward to seeing what she can do.”
Rina Tatematsu matched Hinson-Tolchard with a 74 as well to finish the third round tied for 16th. Tatematsu’s round was propelled by strong finish to the front nine, in which she birdied three of her final four holes before making the turn.
The junior leads the team with 14 birdies through 54 holes of play and is in search of her second career top-15 outing at the NCAA Championship.
In its history, Oklahoma State has had two players both finish inside the top-20 at the NCAA Championship just five times in 23 prior appearances.
Clemence Martin fired a 3-over 75 en route to a tie for 60th. The sophomore sank four birdies on Sunday, including two in her final three holes, and is second on the team with 33 pars on the weekend.
Thitaporn Saithip shot a 5-over 77 to land in a tie for 100th. The freshman has now played 17 consecutive rounds in which her score counted towards the overall team score.
Han-Hsuan finished the day tied for 125th with a 10-over 82.
Oklahoma State is scheduled to tee off for the fourth round tomorrow at 12:11 p.m. CT alongside Georgia and New Mexico.
Beginning at 4 p.m. CT, Golf Channel will air live coverage of the championship round as the 2023 individual National Champion is crowned. Live scoring will also be available on GolfStat.com.
It wasn’t the finish the Tulsa women’s golf team had envisioned but an appearance at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 15 years and a season that saw the Hurricane place among the top-3 six times with two tournament victories can be marked as a success.
Tulsa’s march to the NCAA Championships this year only whets the appetite for a young squad with the desire to get back in the title hunt in 2024. All five Tulsa players return next season.
The Hurricane carded a third-round score of 307 on Sunday to finish in 29th place with a 54-hole total of 914 at the par-72 Grayhawk Golf Club.
For Tulsa, fourth-year senior Lilly Thomas finished in 89th place at 9-over par 225 after turning in a score of 77 today that included a birdie putt on the final hole. Sophomore Sydney Seigel, playing in her hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., scored Tulsa‘s best round of the day with a 4-over par 76.
A pair of freshmen, Jenni Roller and Grace Kilcrease, finished in 139th and 142ndplace, respectively. Roller had a round of 79 and completed the three rounds at 234 for the event, while Kilcrease tied Seigel for the day’s best round of 76 for a 235 final score.
Sophomore Lovisa Gunnar finished in 144th place with a total score of 240 after today’s round of 78.
Team Results (Top-15 teams advance)
- Stanford – 288-273-290=851
T2. Wake Forest – 279-280-299=858
T2. Texas – 292-276-290=858
- Southern Cal –296-276-290=862
- Florida State – 288-286-289=863
- South Carolina – 286-276-302=864
T7. Arizona – 292-288-289=869
T7. Texas A&M – 287-284-298=869
T9. Pepperdine – 295-279-296=870
T9. Georgia – 286-290-294=870
- Oklahoma State – 280-291-300=871
- New Mexico – 287-288-301=876
- LSU – 294-288-295=877
- Mississippi State – 301-288-291=880
- SMU – 291-295-295=881
- San Jose State – 292-293-297=882
- Baylor – 289-290-304=883
T18. Michigan State – 293-294-298=885
T18. Duke – 288-296-301=885
- TCU – 293-295-298=886
- Texas Tech – 291-298-301=890
T22. Northwestern – 303-291-298=892
T22. Oregon State – 297-293-302=892
T24. Virginia – 298-293-302=893
T24. Clemson – 299-287-307=893
- Augusta – 296-297-303=896
- Vanderbilt – 305-292-300=897
- Ole Miss – 300-288-310=898
- Tulsa – 301-306-307=914
- North Carolina State – 305-304-308=917