Kate Smith notched her third top-25 finish of the fall to lead the Nebraska women's golf team to an 11th-place finish in a strong 16-team field in the Battle at the Beach in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico on Sunday.
Smith, a senior from Detroit Lakes, Minn., managed a two-over-par 74 in Sunday's final round on the par-72, 6,280-yard layout of Club Campestre San Jose. She finished with a three-round total of 220 (72-74-74) to tie for 25th individually in the 87-player field.
Megan Whittaker added a 75 (+3) on Sunday to finish in a tie for 36th at 223 (79-69-75) over 54 holes. The sophomore from Elkhorn, Neb., fired a career-best 69 (-3) on Saturday.
Sophomore Kirsten Baete (Beatrice, Neb.) put up Nebraska's best round on Sunday with a one-over-par 73. Baete finished in a tie for 67th at 232 (80-79-73). Senior Haley Thiele (Wahoo, Neb.) also carded her best round of the tournament on Sunday with a 74 (+2) to finish in a tie for 71st at 234 (82-78-74).
Freshman Leah Herzog (Red Wing, Minn.) also tied for 71st (77-77-80-234), while junior Hannah Thiele (Wahoo, Neb.) rounded out the Husker contingent in a tie for 79th (81-80-79-240) while playing as an individual outside Nebraska's lineup.
Baete (73), Smith (74), Haley Thiele (74) and Whittaker (75) provided Nebraska with a final-round 296 for the Huskers' best team round of the tournament. Nebraska finished in 11th place at 902 (308-298-296) for the tournament, defeating Missouri and Iowa (904), Indianapolis (905), Kansas State (916) and UAB (935).
"Course conditions were ideal for scoring today, and we saw great improvement by Kirsten and Haley," Nebraska Coach Lisa Johnson said. "We had solid performances this week by Megan and Kate. Overall, we saw tremendous growth in our course management from Round 1 to Round 3, especially on the par threes, and when we put ourselves in trouble off the tee."
No. 14 Ole Miss captured the team title with a three-round team total of 857 (-7). The Rebels held off SEC rival No. 18 LSU (864) by seven strokes. The hosts from TCU finished 12 shots back of Ole Miss at 869 in third place. Texas A&M took fourth at 872, while No. 20 Virginia Tech rounded out the top five at 874. Vanderbilt, which entered the tournament ranked No. 11 in the nation according to GolfStat, finished ninth in the team standings.
Julia Johnson from Ole Miss stormed to the individual title by six strokes after unleashing an NCAA-record-tying round of 61 (-11) on Sunday. Johnson opened with an eagle on the par-5 first hole then knocked in three consecutive birdies to sit at five-under through four holes. She added birdies on No. 8 and No. 9 to finish the front at 29 (-7). After a par on No. 10, Johnson dropped in three straight birdies to sit at -10 through 13 holes. Pars on 14, 15, 17 and 18 surrounded a birdie on No. 16. Johnson finished with a three-round total of 203 (73-69-61).
Only two other NCAA women's golfers in history have carded a 61 on a par-72 course, most recently Gonzaga's Bianca Pagdanganan in the second round of the Pizza Hut Thunderbird Invitational on March 17, 2017. The other was Colorado's Esther Lee, who fired a 61 in the opening round of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 12, 2016. Stanford's Mariah Stackhouse added a 61 on a par-71 course in the second round of the Peg Barnard Invitational on Feb. 17, 2013.
Johnson's round pushed her past teammate Chiara Tamburlini, who tied for second at 209 (70-69-70) while playing as an individual outside the Ole Miss lineup. LSU's Latanna Stone tied for runner-up honors with a 209 (73-67-69) of her own. Texas A&M's Courtney Dow finished fourth (71-71-68-210), while LSU's Ingrid Lindblad (68-76-67-211) and TCU's Jennie Park (70-70-71-211) tied for fifth.
Nebraska will take the next three months off from competition before returning to the course for the spring portion of its schedule at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R., Feb. 9-11.
Battle at the Beach
San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico (Host: TCU)
Club Campestre San Jose (Par 72, 6,280 Yards)
Nov. 1-3, 2019
Final Team Results
1. #14 Ole Miss - 302-278-277-857 (-7)
2. #18 LSU - 293-288-283-864 (E)
3. TCU - 299-288-282-869 (+5)
4. Texas A&M - 296-301-275-872 (+8)
5. #20 Virginia Tech - 300-286-288-874 (+10)
6. Texas Tech - 303-291-281-875 (+11)
7. San Jose State - 300-296-283-879 (+15)
8. Augusta - 303-292-286-881 (+17)
9. #11 Vanderbilt - 298-300-285-883 (+19)
10. Denver - 302-302-292-897 (+33)
11. Nebraska - 308-298-296-902 (+38)
T12. Iowa - 312-299-293-904 (+40)
T12. Missouri - 303-304-297-904 (+40)
14. Indianapolis - 311-302-292-905 (+41)
15. Kansas State - 310-300-306-916 (+52)
16. UAB - 318-317-300-935 (+71)
Final Individual Results
1. Julia Johnson, Ole Miss - 73-69-61**-203 (-13)
*T2. Chiara Tamburlini, Ole Miss - 70-69-70-209 (-7)
T2. Latanna Stone, LSU - 73-67-69-209 (-7)
4. Courtney Dow, Texas A&M - 71-71-68-210 (-6)
T5. Ingrid Lindblad, LSU - 68-76-67-211 (-5)
T5. Jennie Park, TCU - 70-70-71-211 (-5)
7. Emily Mahar, Virginia Tech - 70-72-71-213 (-3)
T8. Sabrina Iqbal, TCU - 76-72-66-214 (-2)
T8. Conner Beth Ball, Ole Miss - 76-68-70-214 (-2)
T8. Louise Yu, Vanderbilt - 72-72-70-214 (-2)
*competed as an individual outside the team lineup
**tied NCAA record for individual round
Nebraska Individuals
T25. Kate Smith - 72-74-74-220 (+4)
T36. Megan Whittaker - 79-69-75-223 (+7)
T67. Kirsten Baete - 80-79-73-232 (+16)
T71. Haley Thiele - 82-78-74-234 (+18)
T71. Leah Herzog - 77-77-80-234 (+18)
*T79. Hannah Thiele - 81-80-79-240 (+24)
*competed as an individual outside Nebraska's lineup
