Texas Tech closed its 2016-17 campaign with a 22nd place finish Monday afternoon after the Lady Raiders recorded their best round of the 54-hole NCAA Championships held at Rich Harvest Farms outside of Chicago.
The Lady Raiders, who opened the third round with an early 6:45 a.m. CT tee time, fired a 15-over-par 303 final round that was 10 strokes better than their total from less than 24 hours ago. Tech concluded the weather-shortened tournament at 87-over as a team, which was seven shots better than Pepperdine and nine in front of Oregon, its two playing partners over the final 18 holes.
“This was a great week and a great experience for us,” said Tech head coach JoJo Robertson, who returns all five members from her postseason lineup next season. “We played a difficult golf course in some very tough conditions. I’m proud of our team for hanging in there and never giving up.”
Tech totaled 11 birdies on the day, two more than its combined total over the first two rounds. Gabby Barker and Sofia Garcia led the Lady Raiders with three birdies each as Barker sank each of hers at the par-5 holes located at No. 2, 5 and 18. Garcia, meanwhile, took advantage of several stellar tee shots for birdies at the par-3 13th and 16th as well as the par-4 sixth.
Garcia was 1-under over her first nine holes before closing with an even-par 72 round that moved her to a team-leading 14-over over the weekend. Barker came close to matching Garcia with a similar even-par round but her birdie putt at the ninth – Tech’s last hole after starting from the No. 10 tee – lipped out to keep her at 1-over on the day and 21-over for the tournament.
With her score, Garcia ends her rookie season with a 73.6 stroke average, which is tied for the sixth-lowest in program history and the lowest ever for a Tech freshman. She broke the previous freshman record of 74.0 set by Barker just two years ago.
“Sofia has had a great freshman year,” Robertson said. “I love the way she plays. She’s aggressive and gives 100 percent every time she tees it up. She’s exciting to watch, and I’m looking forward to her next three years.”
Cara Barker and Lauren Mason added Tech’s other two contributing scores as Barker was 5-over while Mason finished 9-over. The duo concluded the event tied with each other at 26-over for the tournament. Mami Yamamoto chipped in Tech’s final score of the day with an 11-over round.
Northwestern held on to take the spot among the eighth teams advancing to the match play portion of the tournament. The Wildcats fired a 10-over final round to conclude stroke play at 33-over, eight strokes better than No. 1 ranked Stanford. The remaining teams advancing to match play included Arizona State, Ohio State, USC, Baylor and Kent State.
Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn used a 1-under final round to claim the individual title as she finished 1-over for the tournament, just a stroke in front of the top-ranked player in the country Leona Maguire of Duke as well as third-ranked Jennifer Kupcho of Wake Forest.
The NCAA Championships were shortened to just 54 holes Saturday after rain poured down on Rich Harvest Farms, canceling the second round. Match play will begin Tuesday morning with live coverage provided on the Golf Channel.
The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, will play in several amateur tournaments this summer in preparation for the 2017-18 season that will begin next fall. For all the latest updates, follow @TexasTechWGolf on Twitter.
(Courtesy: Texas Tech Sports Communications Department)
