The women’s and men’s golf teams wrapped up their fall season with strong finishes, as the women placed second at the East Lake Cup and the men finished fifth at The Clerico.

Women’s Golf

After finishing 12th at the Stanford Intercollegiate, the ‘Cats traveled to Atlanta for their final tournament of the fall season at the East Lake Cup. This event is one of the most prestigious in collegiate golf, featuring only four teams, all of which reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season alongside Northwestern. The format included one day of stroke play to determine seeding followed by two days of match play. Due to torrential rain during the stroke play round, teams were only able to complete nine holes, where the ‘Cats finished third. Dianna Lee excelled during that stretch, winning the individual title at 2-under par. In match play, the ‘Cats defeated USC in the semifinals before narrowly falling to Oregon in the championship.

On the first day of competition, the ‘Cats finished at 10-over as a team and third in the individual standings. Lee led the way at 2-under, the lowest score among all players in a talented field that battled windy and rainy conditions. Arianna Lau provided the next best round with a 2-over score, helping Northwestern earn the No. 3 seed and a semifinal matchup against USC in match play.

The matches against USC were extremely close, with neither team winning by more than a score of 2&1. The weather was chilly and windy. Ashley Yun was the first match out, taking on USC’s Sarah Hammett. The match was back and forth with Hammett holding a 2UP lead before Yun narrowed it and eventually took a 2-up lead through 15 holes. She finished strong and secured a 1-up victory. Hsin Tai Lin faced Jasmine Koo of USC. Tai Lin got off to a strong start, reaching 3-under through seven holes and holding a 3UP lead. However, Koo played exceptionally well, eagled the par-5 14th and won the match after 20 holes. 

It was a close and intense matchup between Arianna Lau and Southern California’s Elise Lee, who was on NU’s national championship team and transferred for this season. Lau, the team’s top player so far as a first-year, continued her strong play. She hit impressive tee shots to tap-in range on the par-3 11th and par-15th. The match was back and forth before Lau secured the win on the 19th hole, which was played on the 15th.

The fourth match featured NU’s Megan Meng against USC’s Kylie Chong. Chong quickly took a 2-up lead through three holes, but Meng battled back to tie the match after six holes. Meng played solid golf for the remainder of the round, including birdies on the 11th and 14th holes. She closed the match at 2&1, helping Northwestern secure the overall win against USC.

In the final match, individual champion Dianna Lee faced the Trojans’ Catherine Park. It was a highly competitive and well-played match, with Lee making seven birdies to finish 5-under and Park making five birdies to finish 3-under. Both players played at an exceptional level and would have outperformed everyone else in the other matches. Lee quickly took a 2UP lead after two holes, then added birdies on 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 14, and closed the match on the 17th hole at 2&1. With that strong performance, Northwestern advanced to face Oregon in the championship.

In the championship, the weather worsened, with temperatures in the high 40s along with 15-mile-per-hour winds and rain. Northwestern faced a tough test against Oregon, a rematch of the semifinals in the NCAA Tournament from last season. In the first match, Yun took on Oregon’s Sophie Han. Yun did not play her best golf but stayed close, trailing by only one after eight holes. A difficult stretch from holes 9- 14 allowed Han to take the point 5&4.

In the second match, Hsin Tai Lin faced Tong An. The match was back and forth, with both players holding 1UP leads through the first nine holes. Tai Lin came back by winning holes 16 and 17 to tie the match heading into the 18th. On the final hole, Tai Lin had a short putt to tie if An missed, but An made a clutch left-to-right 10-footer to win 1UP.

In the third match, Dianna Lee continued her strong play against Oregon’s Shyla Singh. The match was tied through six holes before Lee birdied holes 9, 11, 12, 14 to close out the match 5&4 and secure the first point for the Wildcats.

In the fourth match, Lau played Suvichaya Vinijchaitham. The Oregon sophomore started strong and held a 4UP lead through nine holes. Lau responded with a terrific back nine, birdieing holes 12, 14, 15, 17 to cut the deficit to one after 17 holes. The match was not completed before Kiara Romero of Oregon finished her match against Megan Meng, so Lau was 1DOWN after 17 holes.

In the final match, Meng faced Romero, the number one-ranked amateur in the world. Romero led throughout, but Meng fought back to reduce the deficit to 2UP after 15 holes. Romero closed the match with a par on the 16th to win 3&2.

It was a strong tournament for the ‘Cats despite a close finish, as they had opportunities to win if the close matches involving Tai Lin and Lau had gone differently. This concluded the first portion of the season for Northwestern, and the team will return to action in a few months at the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic on Feb. 1 and 2.

Men’s Golf

Following a fourth-place finish at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, the ‘Cats traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete in The Clerico, their final tournament of the fall season. The field was strong, led by Auburn and Oklahoma State, along with three other top-30 programs. The event was held at Southern Hills, a demanding course that hosted the 2022 PGA Championship.

On day one, Northwestern got off to a slow start with an 11-over-par round. The team sat in sixth place, 14 shots behind Auburn. No NU player finished under par, but Rowan Sullivan and Daniel Svärd continued to pace the team with scores of 1-over and 2-over, respectively. The Wildcats remained in contention but needed improvement to climb the leaderboard.

In the second round, NU made progress with a 4-over team score. Svärd turned in a strong performance with a 2-under 68, moving him into solo sixth after two rounds. Jeremy Chen added a steady even-par round that included three birdies. Northwestern ended the day in fifth place with an opportunity to continue moving up the standings in the final round.

In the final round, the ‘Cats closed with a 19-over score. Although it was their highest round of the tournament by score, the conditions were extremely difficult with steady rain and winds around 15 miles per hour. Svärd and Sullivan each led the way with rounds of 73, and Northwestern finished in solo fifth.

Southern Hills played as tough as expected for a course that has hosted PGA Championships and other major events. The par-70 layout averaged a score of 74.58 over the three rounds. The final day was the most challenging, with scores averaging 77.02 — an unusually high number for such a strong field that reflected both the weather and course difficulty. The second round was the easiest at 73.05, which was still three shots over par. Only one hole played under par, the par-5 13th, which averaged 4.91, while the par-4 18th proved toughest at 4.51.

Svärd and Sullivan led the way for the ‘Cats, with the senior from Sweden finishing at 3-over and the junior from South Carolina at 5-over. Svärd’s best round came on day two when he shot a 2-under 68 with four birdies, ranking third in par-4 scoring average at 4.03. He continued his strong play and closed the fall season with four straight top-10 finishes, ending with a tie for fifth at The Clerico. Sullivan also secured a top-10 finish, tying for 10th, and remained steady throughout the week with scores of 71, 71 and 73. He led the field in par-4 scoring average and continued to solidify himself as a key piece in Northwestern’s lineup.

Chen and Holcombe turned in solid performances for Northwestern. Chen’s best round came in the second 18 holes when he posted an even-par 70 with three birdies, including one on the challenging par-4 16th. He finished tied for 31st. Holcombe opened with his best round, a 75, and recorded the 10th most pars in the field with 34, finishing tied for 45th.

Isaac Lee and Ethan Tseng also competed for the ‘Cats, with Lee placing 56th and Tseng 58th. Lee’s second round was his best, shooting 5-over with a birdie on the long par-3 8th. Tseng’s strongest performance came in his second 18 holes as well, where he carded a 75. He rebounded well after a tough start and provided a counting score in both Northwestern’s second and final rounds.

The ‘Cats ended their fall season on a positive note, finishing in the top five in their last four tournaments. There was plenty of progress and a strong foundation to build on, with Svärd and Sullivan continuing to lead the way. The team will now have three months to practice before the Gantner Cup, which begins on Jan. 31.

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