Starting Tuesday, Northwestern played in the NCAA golf tournament held in Tulsa, Okla., against the best 24 teams in the country. The ‘Cats finished the first round of the tournament tied for 16th place, but have battled their way up the rankings each day, heading into the final round in tenth place. But, they faltered down the stretch and ended up finishing 16th in the nation.
Northwestern’s highest finisher was sophomore Suchaya Tangkamolprasert, who was about as consistent as they come during the tournament, shooting 72, 71, 71 and 69 for her four rounds, putting her in 16th place with a five-over 285. She was the only Northwestern player to be in the top 50 individually in the tournament.
As a team, the ‘Cats finished with a score of 1166. Their best day of competition was Wednesday, when they shot a cumulative four-over 284.
The future is bright for the young Wildcats. Junior Hana Lee was the oldest Northwestern player who participated in the tournament. The others were sophomores Kaitlin Park, Elizabeth Szokol, Tangkamolprasert and freshman Kacie Komoto.
Komoto finished the tournament with the second-lowest score for Northwestern. She hit her stride in the final two rounds, posting a one-under 69 on Thursday and a 74 Friday. Szokol shot the lowest round of any Northwestern athlete with a three-under 67 on Wednesday.
Duke and USC were neck and neck to the end of the tournament, but ultimately Duke came out as the national champs. Individually, USC’s Doris Chen came in first place.