Well for those who watched the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship you got quite an exciting show put on for you. Every year those matches have come down to the wire and this year did not disappoint. For those who didn’t get a chance to watch click HERE for some highlights.

I had a tough time watching because I couldn’t decide who I wanted to win. The Alabama women’s head coach, Mic Potter, was actually my college coach at Furman. So obviously I wanted to see him win another national championship there at Alabama. I made it to NCAA Nationals as an individual my senior year at Furman and I had Mic alongside me the whole way. I will forever be grateful for all that he taught me. He is one heck of a coach!

On the other hand, Laura Ianello, the women’s head coach at Arizona is a friend of mine from our days of playing. Laura and I were actually the only two rookies on the LPGA Tour in 2004 who had just graduated from college. We got paired together quite often that year. I knew the year had been a bit rough for her and the team. Then to watch the team almost miss match play with a team score of +17 on the 4th day of stroke play and still end up in the finals was quite the story. So I really wanted to see them win as the underdogs.

Well, I can certainly say that no matter what, the championship was another huge win for women’s golf. All of the teams who made it to nationals put up a good fight on a tough golf course. Of course, I was pulling hard for my Lady Paladins to advance to match play but they came up just short of the top 8 on the 4th day of stroke play.

The tournament showed what it means to NEVER give up on yourself or your teammates. After one of the highest rounds of any team during the tournament, one of the AZ players drained an eagle putt on the last hole to get them into a playoff to advance to match play.

Then in the final match of the championships, Bae from Alabama hits her approach way right, tries to chop it out, has to then take an unplayable lie and eventually concedes the hole to go 1 down with 1 to play, knowing their match would likely decide the championship. Off the tee on 18 she bombs it into perfect position to set up a chance to go for it in 2 on the par 5 finishing hole, while her opponent Moore chooses to lay it up short of the green. Bae hits a great shot, that took an even better bounce and left her with about 10-12ft for eagle that she ended up only needing to 2 putt to win the hole and tie the match.

Talk about not giving up and not letting a bad shot/hole rattle your confidence!!

I hope you had as much fun watching as I did and it gets you even more excited for the opportunity to play college golf.

 

For questions about college recruiting, send your emails to Brandi at bjackson@pkbgt.org