By Andrew Hartley(andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
Kajsa Arwefjall beginning to tee off the hole for SJSU | Courtesy of SJSU Athletics
After finishing third at the NCAA Regionals Wednesday, SJSU women’s golf punched its ticket to the NCAA championships. This will be the second year in a row the Spartans will head to Scottsdale, AZ, attempting to claim the championship.
The team shot 14-over after the front nine Monday putting them in a difficult position for the following days. They were tied for fourth knowing only the top five teams make the cut.
But they continued to listen to Head Coach Dana Dormann’s message all season long: “Stick to our process.” They would go on to finish third shooting 14-over for the duration of the tournament.
“It’s really exciting to make it as a team,” said senior Antonia Malate.
Malate has dominated play when in the state of Georgia this year. She tied for 20th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this year. This week, she finished ninth at the NCAA Regional in Athens, GA and shot the best of any player on par 3s.
Kajsa Arwefjall and Lucia Lopez Ortega both finished tied for 16th and both had a round under par Tuesday. In fact, the Spartans had the second most pars in the tournament with 181.
But now, for the 23rd time in school history, SJSU will head to the NCAA championships hoping to end a championship drought of over 30 years.
The Spartans are an experienced group with four of their five current players having played at last year’s championships. Coach Dormann also won a National Championship with SJSU in 1987.
“We have a lot of course knowledge, we feel really comfortable there,” said Dormann about Grayhawk golf course. The Spartans have already had two tournaments in Arizona this spring, familiarizing themselves with the climate.
SJSU women’s golf made it all the way to match play in the 2022 season but were stopped by Oregon in the quarter finals.
“We’ve got that confidence knowing that we are a team capable of making it to match play and fighting for that National Championship,” said Dormann.
The NCAA Championships will start on Friday, May 19, and continue through May 22 until match play begins.