MSU women’s golf will miss out on the NCAA Tournament this season, despite a fourth place finish at the Big Ten championships last weekend. The streak of 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the program has come to an end.
While the team did not qualify for the NCAA regionals, the Green and White will not be entirely absent from postseason play. Junior Gabby Yurik qualified to compete for the individual championship, and she’ll play in the Midwest region hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
"(Yurik) deserves it and she’s played very well,” MSU women’s golf head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “That’s definitely a satisfying feeling knowing that you’ve got one of the best players in the country, and she had a great cast around her.”
“But it’s a great opportunity and she’s going to get to compete against some of the best players in the country in the NCAA Tournament.”
The team’s performance at the Big Ten championship was the best fourth place finish MSU has ever had, Slobodnik-Stoll told her team.
“I think to anyone that knows me and what we expect out of the program, that was kind of saying a lot, because I would never say that fourth place was good,” she said. “But we came a long way this year.
The team lost four of their five starters from a year ago, and was traveling with three freshmen, Slobodnik-Stoll said.
Fifth year senior Lindsey McPherson had a tremendous weekend — shooting a career-low of 217 to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. McPherson had a chance to win on the last day, finishing just four shots back of the lead. Yurik finished in 12th for the Spartans.
“I feel like we played well at the Big Ten championship,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We put ourselves in position for a time or two, and could have finished third on the last day. We walked away satisfied.”
The team has plenty to look forward to for next season. Five starters from this season are returning next year, and the team’s tough schedule against upper-echelon programs has been a great learning experience for the team to build upon for next season, Slobodnik-Stoll said.
