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Austin Regional Headquarters
The Missouri State women's golf team is headed to Austin, Texas, where it will compete Monday thru Wednesday (May 7-9) at one of four NCAA Regional sites for a chance to advance to the 2018 NCAA Division I Championship. The Bears will be one of 18 teams teeing it up at the University of Texas Golf Club. Six teams and three individuals at the regional will advance to play in the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., May 18-23.
MSU earned its second consecutive NCAA berth by repeating as Missouri Valley Conference champions with a decisive 14-stroke victory last month at the league championship in Newton, Kan. Seventy-two teams spread among four regionals were selected for the field with 18 teams each in three other regionals beside Austin -- Madison, Wis.; San Francisco, Calif.; and Tallahassee, Fla.
Other teams joining the Bears in Austin include (with Golfstat national ranking in parentheses): (3) Arkansas, (8) Texas, (11) Michigan State, (14) Florida, (19) Auburn, (21) Oklahoma, (25) Houston, Miami, Baylor, Texas A&M, BYU, East Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, UTSA, Georgetown and Houston Baptist.
MSU is led by seniors Stine Pettersen and Verena Gimmy, who ranked 1-2 in the league in scoring average with 75.11 and 75.23 marks, respectively. Pettersen is a three-time all-conference performer who tied for third at the MVC Championship. She missed much of last season due to injury and has been slowed this year, but is the school recordholder for best 18- and 54-hole scores and entered this season as the school's leader in career scoring average. Gimmy is the current Valley Player of the Year, was runnerup at last year's conference championship and has won two tournaments this season, at Oral Roberts and Little Rock.
Junior Rachel Johnson was medalist at the MVC Championship, firing a final-round 67 to tie the conference 18-hole scoring record and earn her first collegiate victory. She sports a 76.10 scoring mark and placed seventh in scoring in the conference and second in its head-to-head rankings. Junior Ashley Childers has compiled a 77.90 scoring average, which ranked her 24th in the conference, but finished a season-best sixth at the conference tournament. Freshman Bridget Schulte will round out the Bears' lineup, averaging 82.33 in 12 tournament rounds this season.
The Bears will begin play at 9:50 a.m. Monday at the par 72, 6341-yard Texas Golf Club.
