“Conditions were ideal for scoring yesterday, but today was definitely more challenging with the rain and mist in the morning and stronger winds throughout the day,” commented head coach Kristen Simpson. “I thought the team played great this week, they competed hard in every round. We did a tremendous job controlling speed on the greens leading to a lot of birdies. We've always been solid ball strikers, but this week we combined that with a phenomenal putting performance. I'm really impressed with how the entire team competed and executed all week.”
This marks the third-straight runner-up finish for Penn State at this event (2018 and 2019) coming up just shy of Kentucky each time. The Wildcats used an impressive 14-under, 274, in the opening round to separate themselves from the field and backed that up with two more rounds in red figures finishing the week at 25-under, 839. The title marks the 14th for the Wildcats in their home tournament and the first since 2019.
Cal and Indiana tied for third at 1-under for the week while Lipscomb rounded out the top-5 at 7-over.
Sophomore Audrey Lam paced the Nittany Lions with her second top-10 finish of the season and the fifth of her career as she carded back-to-back rounds in red figures following an even-par opening round to register her lowest career finish relative to par at 5-under, 211.
“I worked hard at my game these past few weeks, especially with the small details in my short game and putting,” mentioned Lam. “I definitely saw the results this week of trusting the process and being dedicated to practicing efficiently every day.”
Junior Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun used a final round 4-under, 68, to race 13 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 10th at 3-under, 213, marking her second top-10 finish of the season in as many events and the sixth of her career.
Freshman Maddie Koshko continued her stellar play after winning the Happy Valley Individual two weeks ago and once again finished in red figures for the week at 1-under, 215, and in a tie for 14th following back-to-back rounds of 2-under, 70. Of Koshko’s five rounds of collegiate golf to begin her career, four have resulted in scores under par.
Sophomore Mara King rounded out the four Nittany Lions in the top-20 of the 75-player field finishing the week 1-over, 217, with her low round coming in the second round on Monday when she fired a 2-under, 70, highlighted by three-straight birdies on holes 4-6.
