SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Florida State will face Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of match play on Tuesday as the Seminoles kicked in the door and finished sixth in the team standings after four rounds of stroke play at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club.
Florida State’s sixth place finish in stroke play marks its best ever finish and catapults Head Coach Amy Bond and her team into match play at the national finals for the first time in school history.
“It’s huge. I’m just excited for the girls to have the opportunity. Now the fun really begins,” said Bond. “They are one of have teams that has the opportunity to win a national championship. I’m just excited for them and excited to see what happens over the next couple of days.
“I don’t have enough words to describe what they’ve (the players) have done. They played for each other; they played as a family, they were super gritty. Friday’s round was one of the best rounds I have ever seen out of one of our teams. For them to do it down a person was unreal. I’m just extremely proud of them and really excited for them and for Florida State to have this opportunity.”
Florida State began the final day in sixth place and played its best round of the first four days of the tournament with a 3-over par team score of 291. The Seminoles were in the top 10 of the team standings throughout stroke play as it finished the first round in a tie for fourth, were in seventh after the second round and in sixth after the third of four rounds. Florida State’s four-round team score of 26-over par 1,179 is the third-best NCAA Tournament team score in school history.
Stanford finished in first place in the team standings and is the No. 1 seed in match play. The Cardinal will face Georgia in the 1 vs. 8 match beginning at 10:10 am ET. Oregon is the No. 2 seed and will face No. 8 San Jose State at 9:20 am ET from hole No. 1, No. 3 Texas A&M will face Florida State at 9:20 am ET from hole No. 10, and No. 4 UCLA will play No. 5 seed Auburn beginning at 10:10 from hole No. 10.
Stanford’s Rose Zhang won the individual championship with a 6 under par score of 282. She defeated Natasha Andrea Oon of San Jose State by three strokes.
Florida State senior Beatrice Wallin finished in a tie for 13th place with scores of 75-73-73-71 for a four round total of 4 over par 292. She carded her best round of the tournament with a 1 under par score of 71 in the final round and clinched the Seminoles’ spot in match play with a par putt on hole no. 18.
“This what I wanted to come back for,” said Wallin. “It means a lot, after all our hard work the past year. I feel like the team have really been putting in the time and effort this whole year and I’m so happy that it is showing. We are so ready for this next step tomorrow.”
Wallin birdied three of her final 12 holes of the round to finish with her score of 71. She earned scores of par or better in 16 of her 18 holes with three birdies.
Sophomore Charlotte Heath carded a 1 over par score of 73 and finished in a tie for 21st place with a 7-over par score of 295. She birdied two of her final six holes including a birdie on her final hole of the afternoon.
