The Portland State women’s golf team swung its last club of the season on Saturday at the NCAA West Regional. The Vikings finished in 20th place at the three-day event held at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., with a final score of 942 (309, 317, 316).
Seventh-ranked Arizona beat out top-ranked UCLA to win the tournament, and juniors Megan McChrystal from LSU and Ellen Mueller from Oklahoma won individual qualifications. The top eight schools and two individuals from the regionals advance to the NCAA National Championships in Wilmington, N.C. on May 18–21.
PSU’s 20th ranking is the third for the school out of five appearances at the NCAA Regional. The Vikings had their best-ever finish in 2003, when they placed 16th. This year’s team score of 942 is the third-best score out of the five regionals, and also sets a new team-scoring record with an average of 310.1 strokes per round, breaking the 2003–04 record of 310.6.
The team started its first round on Thursday under par and at the top of the leaderboard. Team head coach Kathleen Takaishi said she made sure to take pictures of their placing as souvenirs.
“It was kind of cool to be under par for the first five holes, especially when it was splashed across the leader board,” she said.
Unfortunately, the difficult 71-par course, windy weather and a bit of nerves did not allow the team to keep their top position for long.
The four-player team consisted of senior Stephanie Johns, junior Kalyn Dodge, sophomore Tiffany Schoning and freshman Britney Yada. Schoning led the first day for the team with five-over par and finished in a four-way tie for 72nd place with a score of 233 (76, 80, 77). Dodge also had a good first-round finish, ending the day six-over par, but ended up tied in 104th place with a score of 241 (77, 84, 80).
Johns, who came into the tournament leading the team with a scoring average of 76.25, stayed consistent for the first two rounds, then hit 12-over par in the last round to finish in a five-way tie with a score of 239 (78, 78, 83). This was Johns’ last tournament as a Viking and she finished the year with a scoring average of 76.93, third-best in school history. Her career scoring average (two seasons, 43 rounds) is a new school record.
Yada started the tournament tied for highest score in the round on her team, but came back to lead her team’s scores for the next two rounds. She finished in a seven-way tie for 49th with a final score of 229 (78, 75, 76). Her final score ties for second-best for a Viking at a West Regional with Rebecca Randolph in 2003.
Yada’s season scoring average of 76.37 is a new school record, which broke Haley Brown’s score of 76.85 set in the 2005–06 season. She is also only one point away from beating the school record for single-round scoring.
Although the tournament did not go quite as planned, the experience, according to Takaishi, was a memorable one for everyone.
“This was a really great event, and they put in a lot of hard work to get here,” Takaishi said. “They definitely enjoyed the experience that regionals are and they are looking forward to coming back next year.”
With three seniors leaving this year, new players could help strengthen the team’s chances for the next season.
In any competition, there is always a moment that a player will look back and remember with fondness as their best of the tournament. Yada felt it was her “last putt on the 18.” For Schoning, she said it was her “close approach shot on the 16th hole in the last round.” Johns said hers was “warming up on the range before the last round.” A fitting moment for the exiting senior.