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USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Northwestern shocks Stanford, earns first title in school history at NCAA Women's Championship
Northwestern shocks Stanford, earns first title in school history at NCAA Women's Championship Show Caption Hide Caption Drone flyover video of Omni La Costa North Course par-3 16th hole Omni La Costa is hosting the NCAA mens and womens golf championships for a second year in a row. The North Course's 16th hole is the final par-3. CARLSBAD, Calif. — With a win in the national championship match, Stanford had an argument to be considered the greatest women's college golf team ever. The top-ranked team in the nation didn't lose in stroke play this season, matching a mark accomplished only once by Arizona State three decades ago. On Monday at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, site of the 2025 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, Stanford completed the best 72-hole performance in the history of the NCAA Championship, finishing at 27-under par and essentially stamping its claim as the best team in college golf. But in match play, the team that was best in stroke play, more often than not, doesn't win the NCAA Championship. Enter Northwestern. The Wildcats won one tournament this year, lost by 29 strokes to Stanford at NCAAs and finished nine shots behind the Cardinal at the NCAA Norman Regional two weeks ago. But none of that matters in match play, and Northwestern is leaving Carlsbad with its first national title. Northwestern claimed the NCAA Women's Championship on Wednesday, topping Stanford 3-2 in the match-play final on a sunny afternoon north of San Diego. It's one of the biggest upsets in the history of NCAAs, with the Wildcats preventing Stanford from winning its second consecutive championship and third in four years. A relentless team that took full advantage of the reset match play provides, and the Wildcats are headed back to campus with extra hardware. 'It's surreal,' Northwestern coach Emily Fletcher said. 'Honestly, things are moving really slow right now. I don't think it's really hit any of us. 'It's about doing what this group thought they could do, and that's all they did. They didn't go out to try to prove anybody wrong. They just went out to just be themselves and to just compete as hard as they could. And that was going to be enough.' Freshman Dianna Lee, who went to high school about 25 miles from Omni La Costa, buried a 5 footer for par on the 18th to beat Andrea Revuelta and give Northwestern the distinction of arguably the biggest upset in women's college golf history. Lee was 3 up with five to play but lost Nos. 14-15, and Revuelta had a 4-foot par putt on the par-3 16th to tie the match but missed. Then on 17, Lee had a 15 footer to win the match but powered it past the hole. She took deep breaths and reminded herself of what Northwestern's sports psychologist taught her about controlling emotions. Drained the comebacker. 1 up heading to the 18th tee. Revuelta hit her approach first into the par 5, finding the back of the green. Lee's shot came up short of the pin and somehow stayed on the green. She hit the first putt and drilled the hole, but the ball was traveling too fast and lipped out about 5 feet to her right. Then Revuelta had a chance to tie the match, but her putt didn't have enough pace and missed low. Lee once again collected herself, stepped over the putt and knocked it in. She proceeded to sprint into her teammates arms, and the celebration was on. 'I'm on such a high right now, especially the championship being at my hometown, it means absolutely everything to me,' Lee said. 'It's so incredibly special. It's like no other. You can't even explain what it means to win a championship in your hometown. It's like you're the main character. That's what I feel like right now.' Freshman Hsin Tai Lin got the first Northwestern point on the board, topping Stanford freshman Meja Ortengren 3 and 2. But the bigger victory that truly turned the tides was Lauryn Nguyen, the senior from Seattle who was 2 up with three holes to play but watched as her opponent, Paula Martin Sampedro, won Nos. 16-17 to tie the match and take control on the 18th tee box. However, when Sampedro missed a birdie putt on the par 5, Nguyen buried hers from beneath the hole, and the ensuing fist pump and scream sent rumbles throughout the golf course. Stanford wasn't done, punching back Kelly Xu battled to win her match 1 up on the 18th green. Megha Ganne, in the first match, had a dominating 5-and-4 win over Ashley Yun, but the rest of the scores were purple for a majority of the afternoon. Northwestern prevented Stanford from winning its second consecutive title and becoming the first team since Duke in 2006-07 to win back-to-back (Duke won in 2005, as well). 'I just know that there's going to be some learnings from this,' Stanford coach Anne Walker said. 'You learn the most when you lose, right? And we haven't lost very much. So a great opportunity to go through that and grow from this moment.' All five of Stanford's starters in match play will return next season. They'll have a chance to build on what they started but were unable to finish. Coming into the national championship, the Wildcats competed in match play only once this year, and it happened on a different continent. Northwestern went 0-3-3 in medal match play at the St. Andrews Links Collegiate in Scotland. 'We haven't had a ton of experience in match play,' Fletcher said. 'Maybe it worked a little bit in our favor and that they didn't really know what they were getting into. They knew what they needed to do to take care of their own business, and they did that.' And the image of Lee's putt and celebration will be remembered as when David defeated Goliath.
USA Today
11-05-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
Weather forcing schedule change at NCAA Amherst Regional, which will begin Sunday
Weather forcing schedule change at NCAA Amherst Regional, which will begin Sunday A week after two NCAA Women's Golf Regionals were impacted by weather, one of the six men's regionals is also having to change its schedule. Due to anticipated severe weather Monday, the NCAA Amherst Regional will begin Sunday afternoon at Poplar Grove. Teams will participate in a practice round Sunday morning before beginning the opening round in the afternoon to beat storms on Monday. Weather forecasts in Amherst call for heavy rains Monday and Tuesday with near 100 percent chance of showers and storms, and Wednesday looks like a soaker, too. NCAA rules permit regionals to begin play early in an effort to try to complete 54 holes. Last week, the NCAA Lubbock Regional and the NCAA Norman Regional began Sunday because of weather, with the Lubbock Regional able to complete play Tuesday evening while the Norman Regional wrapped up Wednesday morning. LSU is the top seed at the Amherst Regional, with fellow SEC teams OU and Vanderbilt rounding out the top three. The Commodores will be without Gordon Sargent this week, as the soon-to-be PGA Tour player is not in the lineup or listed as a substitute player.
USA Today
04-05-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
Weather forcing schedule changes at pair of NCAA Women's Golf Regionals, one starting Sunday
Expected inclement weather on Monday and Tuesday is forcing schedule changes at two of this week's NCAA Women's Golf Regionals. Play at the NCAA Lubbock Regional and the NCAA Norman Regional is being altered to ensure teams can complete 54 holes of stroke play by Wednesday, where the top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team will punch their tickets to the NCAA Women's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, which begins May 16 in Carlsbad, California. Forecasts for both Lubbock, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma, show unfavorable golfing conditions during the first two days of play, leading coaches and NCAA officials to adjust playing schedules. In Lubbock, the 12 teams and six individuals are going through a practice round Sunday morning before first round play kicks off in the afternoon. There will be no play Monday, where forecasts call for windy conditions with scattered thunderstorms, with a few of those possibly becoming severe. The second and third rounds are expected to be played as scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, the NCAA Norman Regional is going to play the first and second round on Monday. The final round will be played either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on course conditions. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle Tuesday's forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms with potential for heavy rainfall, and some areas could see more than an inch. Many areas in Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma City area, have had record rain amounts in recent weeks, including numerous flood warnings because of recent storms. Four years ago, inclement weather forced the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional to be controversially canceled without a single shot being hit. The NCAA automatically advanced the top-six seeds to the NCAA Championship. Regionals in Charlottesville, Columbus, Gold Canyon and Lexington are proceeding as scheduled.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OU women's golf earns No. 6 seed at NCAA Norman Regional
Oklahoma women's golf will be a No. 6 seed for the NCAA Norman Regional at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. The regional will be played over three rounds on May 5-7 with 12 teams and six qualifying individuals competing to advance to the NCAA Championships. The top seed in the Norman Regional is defending national champion Stanford. Advertisement Only the top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, along with the lowest scoring golfer not on a qualifying team. The championships will be held at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California on May 16-21. 'We can't wait to take the course in front of our friends, family, and fans, it's huge for us,' head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell said in a press release from the school. 'The postseason feels like an entirely new chapter, and we're determined to step up and perform at the level we know we're capable of.' The Sooners are looking for their first NCAA Championship berth since 2018. That year also marked the program's last tournament win coming into the season, before the Sooners broke through to secure the Paradise Invitational title in February. They finished with a team score of -28 (836), which is the lowest 54-hole score in program history. Advertisement The win sparked a run of five straight top-five finishes heading into the SEC Championship. Junior Gracie Mayo and freshman Audrey Rischer each picked up victories during that stretch. Savannah Barber leads the team in scoring average at 73.44 with a top-five and two, top-10's. Jimmie Austin hosted NCAA Regionals in 2013 and 2019, and has hosted men's regionals three times. It's hosted a men's or women's regional in three of the last four seasons.
