Princeton University Athletics
Wednesday, May 10
Athens, Ga. (University of Georgia Golf Course)
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Maya Walton, pictured with coach Erika DeSanty, will play at the NCAA Championships beginning May 19 in Illinois.
Walton's Late Charge Earns NCAA Finals Individual Bid
May 10, 2017 | Women's Golf
Tuesday at the NCAA regional at the University of Georgia's course, Princeton freshman Maya Walton birdied three of the last four holes to make a jump up the leaderboard and into a crowded field one shot back of what was then the standard for the final individual ticket to the NCAA women's golf championship.
In Wednesday's final round, Walton did it again, making birdie on each of the last three holes to move from 1-over to 2-under, good enough for the third and final individual bid to the NCAA finals later this month. Walton and the Tigers began Tuesday's round from the first hole, and she birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to trim her score before starting Wednesday on 10 and birdieing seven, eight and nine to make the jump in the final round.
"Going into it, I didn't really think about it at all," Walton said of advancing to the NCAA finals. "I was just focused on being there with my team and we were all super excited to be there in the first place, to just enjoy the experience."
Walton improved throughout the tournament, posting three birdies in Monday's round to go with three over-par holes. Tuesday, she birdied four holes and had just two over-par holes. Wednesday, she made par on each of the first 15 holes before going birdie-birdie-birdie over the last three.
"I knew from the practice round that I really liked the way the course set up, and each day I just got more familiar with it and learned how to play each hole better," Walton said.
The eighth hole was a perfect example of that improvement. Monday, Walton quadruple-bogeyed the par-3 before cutting that to a bogey Tuesday and making the hole in two for birdie in Wednesday's round.Â
"It was extremely satisfying," Walton said of conquering the eighth hole. "On the first day, I had a pretty good round going, and the quadruple was actually just kind of bad luck on that hole. The next day, I played it a little safe and ended up with a bogey, but it felt really great to end with a birdie today."
Walton will become the third Tiger and the first Princeton freshman to play in the NCAA finals, joining Mary Moan '97 in 1997 and Kelly Shon '14 in 2013. By tying for fifth, she matched the second-best finish by a Princeton women's golfer in NCAA regional history, along with Moan's tie for fifth in 1997 and behind only Shon's runner-up finish in 2013.
This year's tournament will begin May 19 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., and Walton will be in a 132-player field that will compete in at least three rounds of stroke play. After three rounds held May 19-21, the top 15 of the 24 full teams in the field will advance for one more round of stroke play held May 22, as will the nine individuals not on those teams, and Walton will be playing for one of those bids.Â
As a team, the Tigers finished 11th, turning in their best round of the tournament Wednesday with a 6-over 294 to finish at +36 for the tournament. Alabama won the regional at -7 by 14Â shots over Northwestern with Michigan State, Baylor, Clemson and North Carolina rounding out the six advancing teams. The Tar Heels finished at +22, 11 shots in front of Princeton for the final team spot in the NCAA finals.
Princeton's finish was its best in its four NCAA regionals all-time, surpassing the 12th-place finish in its last appearance in 2005. The team's score to par was also its best by a long stretch, bettering by 38 strokes its +71 from that same tournament 12 years ago.
The top three players not on those teams got the individual tickets to the NCAA finals, and Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho, who won the regional by five shots at -10, the College of Charleston's Laura Fuenfstueck, who finished fourth at -3, and Walton, who tied for fifth at -2, got those three bids. Walton's finish ended up being three shots in front of the next contenders for the last individual bid, Georgia's Jillian Hollis and Arizona's Krystal Quihuis, who tied for 12th at +1.
Princeton's results are below, and complete results are available via Golfstat here.
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In Wednesday's final round, Walton did it again, making birdie on each of the last three holes to move from 1-over to 2-under, good enough for the third and final individual bid to the NCAA finals later this month. Walton and the Tigers began Tuesday's round from the first hole, and she birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to trim her score before starting Wednesday on 10 and birdieing seven, eight and nine to make the jump in the final round.
"Going into it, I didn't really think about it at all," Walton said of advancing to the NCAA finals. "I was just focused on being there with my team and we were all super excited to be there in the first place, to just enjoy the experience."
Walton improved throughout the tournament, posting three birdies in Monday's round to go with three over-par holes. Tuesday, she birdied four holes and had just two over-par holes. Wednesday, she made par on each of the first 15 holes before going birdie-birdie-birdie over the last three.
"I knew from the practice round that I really liked the way the course set up, and each day I just got more familiar with it and learned how to play each hole better," Walton said.
The eighth hole was a perfect example of that improvement. Monday, Walton quadruple-bogeyed the par-3 before cutting that to a bogey Tuesday and making the hole in two for birdie in Wednesday's round.Â
"It was extremely satisfying," Walton said of conquering the eighth hole. "On the first day, I had a pretty good round going, and the quadruple was actually just kind of bad luck on that hole. The next day, I played it a little safe and ended up with a bogey, but it felt really great to end with a birdie today."
Walton will become the third Tiger and the first Princeton freshman to play in the NCAA finals, joining Mary Moan '97 in 1997 and Kelly Shon '14 in 2013. By tying for fifth, she matched the second-best finish by a Princeton women's golfer in NCAA regional history, along with Moan's tie for fifth in 1997 and behind only Shon's runner-up finish in 2013.
This year's tournament will begin May 19 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., and Walton will be in a 132-player field that will compete in at least three rounds of stroke play. After three rounds held May 19-21, the top 15 of the 24 full teams in the field will advance for one more round of stroke play held May 22, as will the nine individuals not on those teams, and Walton will be playing for one of those bids.Â
As a team, the Tigers finished 11th, turning in their best round of the tournament Wednesday with a 6-over 294 to finish at +36 for the tournament. Alabama won the regional at -7 by 14Â shots over Northwestern with Michigan State, Baylor, Clemson and North Carolina rounding out the six advancing teams. The Tar Heels finished at +22, 11 shots in front of Princeton for the final team spot in the NCAA finals.
Princeton's finish was its best in its four NCAA regionals all-time, surpassing the 12th-place finish in its last appearance in 2005. The team's score to par was also its best by a long stretch, bettering by 38 strokes its +71 from that same tournament 12 years ago.
The top three players not on those teams got the individual tickets to the NCAA finals, and Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho, who won the regional by five shots at -10, the College of Charleston's Laura Fuenfstueck, who finished fourth at -3, and Walton, who tied for fifth at -2, got those three bids. Walton's finish ended up being three shots in front of the next contenders for the last individual bid, Georgia's Jillian Hollis and Arizona's Krystal Quihuis, who tied for 12th at +1.
Princeton's results are below, and complete results are available via Golfstat here.
Â
| 11 | Princeton | 300 | 303 | 294 | 897 | +33 |
| T5 | Maya Walton | 75 | 70 | 69 | 214 | -2 |
| T50 | Alison Chang | 74 | 77 | 76 | 227 | +11 |
| T59 | Hana Ku | 76 | 77 | 76 | 229 | +13 |
| T67 | Amber Wang | 79 | 79 | 73 | 231 | +15 |
| T81 | Tiana Lau | 75 | 79 | 83 | 237 | +21 |
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