Evansville's Kate Petrova wins Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge title. Now a historic test awaits

USA Today

03-04-2025

Evansville's Kate Petrova wins Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge title. Now a historic test awaits
When Kate Petrova capped off a final-round 67 at Caledonia Golf Club in Pawley's Island, South Carolina, her teammates had to convince her to stick around for another hour and a half to see where that placed her in the Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge. Petrova, an Evansville junior from Moscow, Russia, was ready to pile in the van and drive home.
'I don't think she knew she was even in the lead when she was done, her teammates told her,' said Evansville head coach John Andrews.
Petrova had played Caledonia's tricky closing three holes in 3 under. On the par-4 16th hole, she hit her approach to 8 feet for birdie, then backed that up with another birdie on the par-3 17th, where she stuck a 7-iron to 10 feet.
During all this, Andrews was nowhere to be found – by design.
'She's very focused on what she's doing. I think she's more concerned about Kate than she is anybody else, and that's OK – there's a lot of good players that are that way,' Andrews said. '. . . She's very focused on her own game, which is exactly who she's always been. That's never been any different.'
Scores: Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge
Petrova's final round at Caledonia included six birdies. She was 5 under for 54 holes, which left her one shot ahead of Middle Tennessee's Abbie Lee and Morehead State's Tavia Burgess, who tied for second. She has now won six times in her Evansville career.
'I would say I was pretty good at staying present and not worried much,' Petrova said. 'I was just out there enjoying and having fun, and I'm pretty sure that's what made those results for me.'
Before Petrova arrived on campus in Evansville, Indiana, for her sophomore season, she won two of the largest women's amateur events in Russia. Between those victories and the college season, however, Petrova injured her back. She struggled to play through it last year.
Petrova evaluates the improvement in her golf game since landing at Evansville in terms of maturity.
'I would say I'm more mature now and I've been working a lot on my game throughout all those years,' she said. 'I've never done this much work before in my life.'
The goal for Petrova now, with a fresh individual title under her belt and the Missouri Valley Conference Championship just a week and a half away, is to not let her experience at Caledonia marinate in her head too long. As she left town with her team, Petrova intended to go home and put more emphasis on her long game and her irons while also leaving ample time for rest.
Petrova won the conference individual title as both a freshman and a sophomore. If she can continue that streak, she stands to join a small group of women's players who have swept their conference titles all four years. LPGA legend Amy Alcott and former LPGA player Amy Olson are believed to be the only ones to do it.
While Petrova made individual headlines at Caledonia, Coastal Carolina was quietly running away with the team title. The Chanticleers led wire-to-wire on their way to winning the team title for the second time since 2022. It is their first title of the season.
Coastal Carolina posted a 54-hole team score of 3 over and finished six shots ahead of runner-up Middle Tennessee. Notably, four Chants finished in the top 8 individually, including 2023 Golfweek/Stifel individual champion Sara Sarrion, who finished T-5 this week.