Sacramento State golf cruised through the Big Sky Conference Championships, and will test their luck at NCAA Regionals in the coming weeks.
Women’s Golf
Women’s golf has owned the Big Sky Conference over the past half decade. They’ve won four of the last five tournament titles, with this being their most dominant yet signifying their readiness for heightened competition.
Sac State’s 14-stroke triumph between April 15-17 at the par-71 Wigwam Golf Resort in Arizona set a new school record for lowest team total, as they finished at 2-under par for the tournament.
All four qualifying Hornets managed a top 10 finish with senior Jennifer Koga, three-time Big Sky Player of the Year, being their best performer.
Koga posted a 67 on the second day of the tournament, sandwiched between a 70 on the first and last day, placing her second for individual honors.
Koga had a comfortable two-stroke lead over Northern Arizona’s Lizz Neale going into the final day, but couldn’t keep pace with Neale’s blistering pace that saw her shoot a round-best 64.
Junior Caitlin Maurice tied for fourth after finishing at an even par.
“Coach always preaches to us about having good energy,” Maurice said. “We just tried to carry that throughout and play solid golf, and it got the job done.”
Freshman Ashley Koga, Jennifer’s younger sister, tied for sixth, shooting 1-over par.
This year’s Big Sky Player of the Year, junior Sneha Sharan, tied for 10th after finishing at 3-over par.
The women’s team will head to one of six regional sites in Cle Elum, Washington at Tumble Creek Club from May 6-8. Each site is composed of 12 teams, and the top five will advance to the finals. The women’s golf team are seeded 11 in their region.
Men’s Golf
A week after Koga added another trophy to their packed case, men’s golf followed suit, winning their third Big Sky title since 2015.
“Being able to stay present and focus on the shot in front of us was very important and not thinking about the results,” sophomore Zach Mate said.
The Hornets opened the tournament with a four-stroke lead. Senior Jake Aberle and sophomore Gabriel Smith led the way, shooting a 67 and 69. Sac State was the only team to have two players shoot below 70 in any of the three rounds.
Smith, tied for second individually, shot par or better in all three rounds, and joined senior Jeffrey Perry and graduate student Luke Dugger as one of three Hornets to finish in the top 10.
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Sac State sat at 10-under par going into the third and final day and carried a four-stroke lead over Weber State.
Despite shooting 8-over par in the last round, dropping their team total down to 2-under par, they were able to edge out the Wildcats
With this win, men’s golf also receives an automatic bid to regionals. They will head to the Stanford site from May 13-15, and will advance to the championship rounds if they’re able to manage a top five finish out of 14 teams. The men’s golf team are seeded 13 out of 14 teams.
“With regionals, playing higher level competition, tougher courses, the pressure is higher,” Sac State head coach Kamden Brakel said. “I think if we can maintain a nice, steady mentality throughout the tournament, I think we’re going to do really well.”
