Cowgirls’ NCAA Championship run ends in tie for 11th, Hinson-Tolchard takes fourth
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Oklahoma State women’s golf’s season ended on Monday after the team finished tied for 11th at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club, narrowly missing the top-8 cut by four strokes.
Battling harsh temperatures, the Cowgirls combined to shoot a 5-over 293, seven strokes improved from the previous day, to move their weekend total to 12-over. Pepperdine claimed the last advancing spot at 8-over, while New Mexico and Arizona finished a single stroke ahead of OSU at 11-over. SMU matched Oklahoma State at 12-over in 11th.
Wrapping up her stellar week, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard fired her third sub-par round of the weekend with a 2-under 70 en route to a solo fourth-place finish at 8-under. After sinking back-to-back birdies on holes No. 3 and No. 4, Hinson-Tolchard sat just a stroke back of the lead, but ultimately came up two shots short of Stanford’s Rose Zhang.
Hinson-Tolchard etched her name near the top of multiple program records this weekend. At 8-under, her 72-hole score was the third-lowest ever by a Cowgirl at the NCAA Championship, just behind Karin Sjodin’s 9-under in 2004. Additionally, her 4th-place result is the program’s best individual finish in 13 years and the fourth-highest ever at NCAA Championship. On Friday, Hinson-Tolchard shot the lowest NCAA Championship round ever by a Cowgirl with a 66.
It was a season full of incredible achievements for Hinson-Tolchard, who wrapped up her junior campaign with the third-best stroke average in school history at 71.12. In addition to breaking the program’s career record for par-or-better rounds earlier this month, Hinson-Tolchard tied the season par-or-better mark with 22. Hinson-Tolchard also became Oklahoma State’s 11th winner of the Big 12 Championship and all 33 of her rounds played this season counted towards the overall team score.
Rina Tatematsu and Clemence Martin shot a pair of 2-over 74 rounds on Monday, finishing tied for 28th and 55th, respectively.
After finishing tied for 12th as a freshman in 2021, Tatematsu now owns two top-30 finishes at the NCAA Championship, a feat even more impressive with the field expanding to 156 players in 2023. In 11 career rounds played at Grayhawk Golf Club, Tatematsu has gone 74-or-better eight times.
Meanwhile, Martin was a consistent piece for the Cowgirls in her first career appearance at the NCAA Championship, never shooting higher than 75. On Monday, the sophomore rebounded nicely from a slow start with five birdies, her highest total of the weekend.
Thitaporn Saithip ended her first NCAAs tied for 65th following a 3-over 75 on Monday, pushing her weekend total to 13-over. The freshman carded 40 pars throughout the tournament, second most on the squad.
Han-Hsuan Yu wrapped up her weekend with a 9-over 81 to finish 79th.
Oklahoma State finishes the season champions of two tournaments, including sweeping both the team and individual titles at the Big 12 Championship. The Cowgirls are one of just 10 teams in the country to have reached the NCAA Championship in each of the past three seasons and have done so in every completed season under head coach Greg Robertson.
The Cowgirls
4. Maddison Hinson-Tolchard – 66-70-74-70 (-8)
T28. Rina Tatematsu – 68-72-74-74 (E)
T55. Clemence Martin – 72-74-75-74 (+7)
T65. Thitaporn Saithip – 74-75-77-75 (+13)
79. Han-Hsuan Yu – 74-75-82-81 (+24)