ATHENS – Talk about getting hot at the right time. Georgia’s women’s golf team just did, and their hope is that they haven’t peaked yet.
The Bulldogs blew away the field at the NCAA Columbus Regional in Ohio this week. They shot even-par 288 as a team for the second consecutive day Wednesday for three-day total of 1-over 865 that earned them a 15-shot victory and punched their ticket to NCAA Championships next week in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Junior Jenny Bae earned medalist honors after shooting 4-under 212, three shots ahead of her closest pursuer. Candace Mahe’ and Isabella Holpfer finished five shots back in a tie for seventh, and Jo Hua Hung led Georgia in the final round with a 3-under 69 as Georgia dominated Ohio State’s famed Scarlet Course.
With the victory, the No. 18-ranked Bulldogs advance to the championship rounds for only the second time in coach Josh Brewer’s nine seasons. There was no NCAA Championship last year because of the pandemic.
“We’re enjoying this and are going to soak it in for about 24 hours, then we’ll worry about the national championships,” Brewer said Wednesday night. “It’s nice to see them rewarded because, honestly, we haven’t had the success this spring that we wanted. No disrespect to any tournament we’ve played up to this point, but I wouldn’t trade this victory for anything. We’ll try to go get one more.”
The regional championship is Georgia’s fifth since the current format was adopted in 1993. The Bulldogs captured regional titles in 1993, 1998, 1999 and 2016. The Bulldogs now rank fourth nationally in regional wins, trailing only Southern Cal, Duke and UCLA.
Bae is Georgia’s third regional medalist, joining Reilley Rankin in 1998 and Bailey Tardy in 2016.
UGA has won one women’s team national championship, in 2001 under former coach Todd McCorkle. The Bulldogs have produced three individual national champions in Vicki Goetze, Terri Moody and Cindy Schreyer.
The Bulldogs will be among 24 teams competing in the NCAA Championships on May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Also advancing from the Columbus Regional were No. 2 Duke, No. 7 Arizona State, Kentucky, Michigan and No. 15 Kent State.
Making the regional title particularly satisfying is that the Bulldogs were set to host a regional last spring before the season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The fact that I won regionals and our team won first place and the fact that all of us are going to nationals is a huge relief and reward for all of us,” Bae said. “We’re all really happy. It’s an honor (to go to nationals). Not many people get to go because you have to get into the top six at regionals, and we prepare for that the entire year. Our team worked really hard during both semesters, and we showed it here, and we’re ready to show it there.”
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