CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – Behind the strong play of individual leader Adela Cernousek, Texas A&M posted its second consecutive under-par round and moved into the lead by five strokes after two rounds of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships being played on the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (6,330 yards/par 72).
After a strong 7-under-par 281 in Friday’s opening round played in the afternoon that had Texas A&M in second place, a stroke behind Clemson, the Aggies went 4-under-par playing in the early morning wave on Saturday to go to 11-under-par for the championship. The Aggies go into Sunday’s third-round with a five-stroke lead over second-place Stanford, which shot a 3-under-par 285 on Saturday.
“I think today was a total team effort, everyone was in the round,” said Texas A&M Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell. “We didn’t have anybody really out of their round at any point today. I thought yesterday’s round was special, especially the finish, but it got really hard today. We haven’t seen the golf course in those conditions yet, so we were kind of learning it on the fly. I was very impressed with how they handled the golf course changing right in front of their eyes.”
👉 RESULTS: Team Leaderboard | Individual Leaderboard | Third Round Pairings
Cernousek, a junior from Antibes, France, posted her second consecutive 68 for Texas A&M to surge to the individual lead at 8-under-par 136, two strokes ahead of Clemson senior Annabelle Pancake and three strokes in front of first-round leader Lottie Woad of Florida State.
“I think my long game is really good right now, said Cernousek, who was backed by Zoe Slaughter’s round of 71, while Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio posted a 72 for Texas A&M. “That is usually my strength. I think my putting has also been good this week. I think it is all coming together, and I’ve been playing really consistently.”
“It was just really fun,” said Pancake. “I think the pins were tough and it was pretty windy, a lot more than yesterday, especially in the afternoon. I had to manage it well, but was kind of cruising, nothing really to it and try to have fun and enjoy it. I had to know when to be conservative because there were a lot of tucked pins out there, water and a lot of danger, so had to be conservative when I needed to be and aggressive when I could be with wedges in my hand and it worked out today.”
Saturday’s second-round featured several individual standouts as LSU junior Aine Donegan posting a 5-under-par 67. That tied her collegiate career low, matching the 5-under 67 she shot at the Tulane Green Wave Classic in the fall of 2022. Southern California sophomore Catherine Park recorded a 2-under-par 70 in her second round, shattering the Trojan single-season record for rounds at par or better with 23.
“I was delighted with the round today, said Donegan. “I tried to stay patient out there today. I started the day with a birdie, which was probably my longest putt of the day, about 22 feet. That was a nice start, kind of a surprise birdie. I actually missed a few good chances inside eight feet for birdie. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. I made some good par putts on the front nine. My back nine was really solid. I hit nearly every fairway and every green. I was kind of stress-free on the back nine. Hopefully, tomorrow is another good day.”
Freshmen Farah O’Keefe of Texas and Kiara Romero of Oregon both shared the honor of the low round on the day, with each posting 6-under-par rounds of 66. For O’Keefe the 66 tied the Texas program record for low 18-hole individual round at an NCAA Championship.
“It was a really good bounce back from yesterday,” said O’Keefe, who shot 76 during Friday’s first-round. “Yesterday was a tough day, especially with the wind picking up. I got out there today, and I think I had a little more intensity and focus. I was able to draw some good positives from yesterday’s back nine. I made some good putts today. I gave myself a lot more opportunities for birdie today than in round one.”
“My ball striking was really good today so I was able to attack most of the pins out there and play more aggressively,” said Romero. “My irons just caught fire out there and I hit seven approaches within three feet and birdied five out of six holes in a row. It was great to be able to put up a low number for my team and we’re excited to come back out and keep attacking this course tomorrow.”
For the championship, the course stroke average was 74.10 on Friday and increased to 75.19 on Saturday. During Friday’s opening round, a total of 13 (of 30) teams recorded a team score of even-par or better. By contrast on Saturday, only seven teams registered a round of even-par or better (Texas A&M, Stanford, UCLA, LSU, Oregon, Southern California and Texas).
🏆 2024 DI WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP: Schedule, results
The third-round of the championship will tee off on Sunday, May 19 at 6:40 a.m. PST. Finals play for the 2024 championships consists of three days of stroke play over 54 holes on Friday thru Sunday (May 17-19), after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday, May 20) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, May 21, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 22.
