The Pac-12 Championships for Women’s Golf teed off Sunday at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman. As the hosts of the tournament, the Cougs hoped to use their knowledge of their home course to their advantage and get off to a good start. They did that and more in round one, as they found themselves in third place out of eleven when the day wrapped up.
Windy conditions made it a challenging day on the course, but the Cougars have had plenty of practice in windy Pullman conditions. Head Coach Sofie Aagaard told WSU Athletics that the team was “able to take advantage of the downwind holes and make a good amount of birdies.”
Junior Madelyn Gamble led the way, finishing two-under par and tied for the lead at the end of the round. She was one-over at the turn before birdies on holes 14, 15, and 17 helped her finish the round strong. Gamble is tied with Catherine Park from USC.
Fellow junior Sarah Skovgaard-Bils finished two-over on the day. She put together a solid front nine which saw her finish even, then compiled three bogeys and a birdie on the back nine for her two-over score. She currently finds herself tied for 13th overall.
Sophomore Hannah Harrison got off to a rocky start. After an early birdie on hole two, she ran into trouble, with five bogeys on the front nine to give her a score of four-over at the turn. She pulled things together in the back nine though, as she lowered her score to three-over with three birdies on the back nine. She finished round one in 17th place overall.
Similarly to Harrison, junior Emily Cadwell salvaged a strong finish after a slow start. Cadwell had a score of five-over at the turn, in large part due to a triple-bogey. However, she found her groove in the back nine, where she strung together a few birdies. She finished with a score of six over par after round one.
Freshman Alice Johansson finished eight-over in round one, placing her in 48th overall. Five bogeys and two double bogeys set her back, and with only one birdie, she fell into an early hole and struggled to recover.
With their overall score of nine-over for round one, WSU finds themselves in third place overall, behind Stanford (two-under), and Oregon (five-over). Stanford, the top-ranked team in the country according to Scoreboard, entered the tournament as favorites and appears to be cruising to an easy win, already with a seven-stroke lead over Oregon. USC, UCLA, and Arizona State are all within two strokes of WSU, so it will likely be a very tight race to third place. Even if WSU falls out of third, they are still on pace for their best Pac-12 Championship finish ever. The Cougars have never finished above seventh place, which makes their round-one performance that much more exciting.
With two days left in the tournament, the Cougars will hope the weather stays on their side, as they continue to compete. Gamble will look to continue to fight for first place, hoping to give WSU something to celebrate at their home course.