TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The No. 16 ranked Florida State Seminoles completed round one of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Championship in second place, after shooting a combined 2-over par 290.
The tournament is held at Seminole Legacy Golf Club.
This is the third time the NCAA Regionals have been hosted for the women’s team in Tallahassee, with the most recent venture in 2018 being their best performance, placing second and advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Florida State put themselves in great position after round one, having to be in the top four to move onto the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.
One of the Seminoles’ own, Beatrice Wallin, shares the lead with Ashley Gilliam from Mississippi State, with both shooting a 3-under par 69.
Wallin, who graduated from Florida State on April 29, enjoyed her last first round of her last college regional by shooting a 3-under par 69, which put her tied at the top of the leaderboard. After a 1-over par 37 on the front-nine, Beatrice started her reign on hole No. 12, going birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie through hole 15. Wallin has now recorded a total of eight eagles in her college career. Her 4-under par 32 on the back-nine was the best of the entire 65 player field.
On top of Wallin’s outstanding performance, she did it in front of her parents who finally got the chance to visit her at Florida State.
“I thought she played great,” said Seminole Head Coach Amy Bond. “I told her on one hole one your parents can come as much as they want. This is the first time her parents have seen her play in college and for her to do what she did today is something pretty special. She came through in the clutch today when we needed it and I’m excited to see that. I hope she continues that for the rest of the week.”
Senior Cecilie Finne-Ipsen had a phenomenal round, shooting even par to put herself tied for seventh. She had two birdies throughout the day, one on hole 7 and another on hole 11. This was her season-best first round score since the Jim West Challenge in the fall of 2021. Finne-Ipsen led the field in pars, totaling 14 for round one.
Senior Amelia Williamson fought hard after having a difficult start to her back-nine. Entering the back at 1-over, she had a singular double-bogey on hole 12, but came back with two birdies on holes 14 and 16, finishing with a two-over par 74. Williamson is currently T15.
Alice Hodge finished strong, shooting two-under on her last 3 holes, ending the back-nine with a 1-over 37. She struggled on the front-nine, but ultimately captured three birdies to finish with a 3-over par 75 and finished round one tied for 25th. Charlotte Heath had a rough round, and although she was unable to secure any birdies, she holed out on her approach shot on hole No. 17 for an eagle and finished her round with a 6-over par 78, tied for 47th. This was Heath’s third career eagle.
Heath and Wallin were two of five players to have an eagle in Monday’s round.
Despite windy conditions, the team was still able to pull through and put themselves in great position for a chance at the NCAA Championship in two weeks.
“I think it’s their golf course,” said Bond. “They know exactly what they’re supposed to do and now they just actually need to relax and have fun. If they can relax and have fun, good things are going to happen. They started to smile a little bit more on the back-nine and that’s what we need to get off to a good start and have them smiling early.”
Florida State will start smiling at 9:06 a.m. off of hole No. 1 Tuesday morning, with Charlotte Heath starting off round two for the Seminoles.
Tee times begin at 8 a.m.
