Bryan, Texas – For the second-straight season and third time in school history, the Clemson women’s golf team has advanced to the NCAA Championships, following a second-place finish at the Bryan Regional. Annabelle Pancake led the Tigers with a second-place finish on the individual leaderboard, the highest-ever finish by a Clemson individual at a regional.
The Tigers, who started the day in second place, rallied through the front nine to grab the lead from eventual-champion LSU. The teams traded ties and leads until the Baton Rouge Tigers grabbed a four-stroke lead with three to play. Clemson finished the round at even par, while LSU finished at -5. Clemson finished the front nine with nine birdies, after recording eight birdies total on the nine holes in the previous two rounds.
Melena Barrientos carded the best round of the day for the Tigers, finishing at -3 (69). The Plano, Texas, native finished with five birdies on the day and finished the week at +4, tied for 21st. Pancake was the only other Tiger under par on Wednesday, finishing at -2 (70). She finished with six birdies on the day, including four on the front nine.
Chloe Holder, Isabella Rawl and Sydney Roberts all finished the week at +5 and tied for 24th overall. Roberts finished the final round at +2, while Rawl made one mistake on the back nine to finish at +3 on the day. Holder finished the afternoon at +5.
The Tigers now head out further west, to Carlsbad, Calif., for the 2024 edition of the NCAA Championship Finals, held at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Play begins on Friday, May 17. Clemson will be joined by LSU, SMU, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M from the Bryan Regional.
In the championship finals, all 30 teams and six individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play. Following 54 holes of competition, the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals will advance for one additional day of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition and the 72-hole stroke-play individual champion. The top eight teams after 72 holes of play will be placed into a bracket with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed playing the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed playing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed playing the No. 5 seed in match play.
A total of five points will be available with one point being awarded for each individual match. Winning teams will advance to the semifinals and subsequently the finals. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance, or in the case of the final match be declared the national champion.
