Alabama Women's Golf Advances to National Championship as Polly Mack Wins Regional Title
The Alabama women’s golf team punched its ticket to the big dance on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide shot a 6-under-par 282 in the final round of its NCAA Regional in Franklin, Tenn., to finish in second place with an 8-under 856 in the tournament. Host Vanderbilt took first place, beating out Alabama by eight strokes with a 16-under 848.
The second-place finish earns Alabama a spot in the national championship tournament which will be held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., from May 20-25. Along with Alabama and Vanderbilt, third place Wake Forest (3-under 861) and fourth-place Texas A&M (3-over 867) also advanced from the Franklin Regional.
This is the Crimson Tide’s 16th berth in the national championship in school history and 15th under head coach Mic Potter.
“I was really proud of the team’s performance today,” Potter said. “They stayed in the present, they handled adversity when it came their way and the result was one of their best tournaments of the year. It is the goal of every golf team at the beginning of the year to compete for the National Championship. We now have a chance to do that.”
Alabama’s Polly Mack took home the individual title, finishing the regional with a 12-under 204, four strokes better than Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn and Texas A&M’s Jennie Park, who finished tied for second at 8-under 208. Mack recorded 20 birdies through 54 holes this week, posting rounds of 65, 73 and 66 to take home the title. The graduate is the first Crimson Tide player to win an NCAA regional since Stephanie Meadow did so in 2013.
“I’m really proud of Polly,” Potter said. “She overcame adversity by being three over after two holes the first day and finishing 12 under for the tournament. She is a great player and works hard. She is very deserving of this victory.”
Benedetta Moresco tied for fourth place with a 5-under 211 overall score. The sophomore was 1 over after Monday, but she responded with a 68 in the second round and a 70 in the final round to improve 15 spots on the individual leaderboard over the course of the tournament.
Emilie Øverås recorded a 6-over 222 to finish tied for 33rd place, while Isabella van der Biest finished tied for 36th place at 7-over 223 and Angelica Moresco finished tied for 40th place with an 8-over 224.
RESULTS
- 1 Polly Mack 12-under-par 204
- T4 Benedetta Moresco 5-under-par 211
- T33 Emilie Øverås 6-over-par 222
- T36 Isabella van der Biest 7-over-par 223
- T40 Angelica Moresco 8-over-par 224
