Perhaps it was the pressure of playing at home. Perhaps it was the stress of having never finished above 7th in the Pac-12 Championships. Perhaps it was the nerves caused by playing in front of friends and family. Perhaps the weather was too warm?
Or, perhaps, the WSU Women’s Golf team was simply fatigued, playing on Palouse Ridge Course for what was likely the twentieth time this year.
For whatever reason, the WSU Women’s Golf team had their worst day of the tournament in round three, and finished in tenth place overall.
The Cougars finished round one in third place overall, taking advantage of windy conditions that made it very difficult for the opposing teams to adjust. Junior Madelyn Gamble, who shot two-under in round one, found herself in second place individually. It was a fantastic first round for the Cougars, who shot an overall team score of nine over par.
Day two saw Gamble continue to build on her solid first round. She shot one-under and was in third place at the end of the day. The rest of the team also improved.
Freshman Alice Johansson shot one-under, as did junior Sarah Skovgaard-Blis, and the Cougars collectively improved to a score of two-under-par for the second round. Despite being surpassed in the standings by USC, Oregon and Arizona State, WSU still had an opportunity to finish in the top six of a Pac-12 tournament for the first time ever.
Of course, that was not the case. The Cougars collectively shot their worst score as a team on round three. Not only was their score of fifteen-over the worst score of any team for round three, the Cougars were the only team not to improve between rounds one and three.
On one hand, that makes sense, because the Cougars have played Palouse Ridge Course enough times this year in practice that you wouldn’t expect to see them improve at the very end of the year.
However, considering how bad the conditions were on Sunday, compared to the sunny, warm weather on Tuesday, it feels like the Cougars missed an opportunity. Perhaps they play better in bad weather, which they are more accustomed to practicing in throughout the Pullman winters.
Gamble’s struggles on day three set the tone for the rest of the team. Her chance at finishing in the top three vanished, as she shot five-over par to close the tournament. She finished in 29th place, with a final score of three-over par. Skovgaard-Blis finished right behind her overall, with a final score of five-over, good for 34th place.
Johansson shot three-over in round three, finishing with an overall mark of ten-over. Sophomore Hannah Harrison finished the tournament at eleven-over, after a rough third round that saw her open the day five-over on the front nine but settle down to lower score to four-over after the back nine.
Junior Emily Cadwell struggled to get into her groove in the final round. She finished with six bogeys and not a single birdie, giving her a mark of six-over on the day, and thirteen-over throughout the whole tournament.
WSU finished above Colorado, so they avoided last place on their home turf. However, a tenth-place finish is disappointing after such a strong start. Stanford won the tournament overall, a result that was expected by most, considering their ranking by Scoreboard as the top Women’s Golf team in the NCAA.
USC’s Catherine Park, meanwhile, took home the individual trophy. The WSU Women’s Golf season now comes to an end, and they will look forward to next year, with head coach Sofie Aagard set to return, alongside all five members of the team.
