Due to delays and unpredictable Oklahoma weather, the Michigan State women's golf team - and all other teams at the NCAA Norman (OK) Regional - were forced to play 36 holes on Monday, instead of the regularly scheduled 18 holes.
Michigan State responded to the unexpected long day with one of its strongest postseason performances in recent memory, breaking program records and coming in third place so far.
The Spartans are entering tournament play with immense experience on their side with this year being their ninth-straight NCAA Regional appearance and their 25th since 1999. They finished the season being ranked No. 24 in the country and a four seed in the Regional Norman Division.
Seniors Brooke Biermann and Katie Lu are also not new to the Regional play as they are both competing in their fourth-straight NCAA Regional and were both part of the two recent MSU teams that went to the NCAA Championships. Biermann, especially, has participated in high-stakes environments and showed performance under pressure, claiming medalist honors after MSU won the NCAA Palm Beach Regional in 2023.
MSU has had a successful postseason run finishing in second place in the Big Ten Championship. They hope to make a deep run in the NCAA Norman Regional and advance to the NCAA Championship for the fourth time in five years.
After day one (which was really the equivalent of two full days), the Spartans are looking hopeful.
The green and white opened the day with a shaky first round, shooting 3-over par, but they were able to recover quickly in the second round with an impressive 6-under par. That levels them out in third place of the 12 teams in their region shooting 3-under par, a MSU program record for the lowest team round in an NCAA Regional.
Michigan State trails behind first-place Stamford at 16-under par and second-place Northwestern at 11-under par.
In addition to the team's success, MSU saw a lot of individual accomplishments with senior Brooke Biermann leading the charge and four players finishing in the top 25. At the end of the first two rounds, Biermann is tied in fourth place after shooting 5-under par. This impressive score leaves her tied with former MSU player Lindsey Solberg for the lowest NCAA Regional in program history.
Biermann also started off slow in the first round with a bogey and a triple-bogey on back-to-back holes, however, she started the second round with back-to-back birdies, finishing that round with five birdies and 13 pars.
Junior Taylor Kehoe sits in 11th place after shooting 1-under par. Kehoe shot three birdies and three bogies in the first round and in the second round, she birdied a par-4 hole and had a record 17 pars. Senior Katie Lu is tied for 14th place with an even-par score and sophomore Ana Sofia Murcia is tied at 25th place with a 2-over par.
The remaining 18 holes of Regional play will continue on May 6 or May 7 and will determine who will advance to the National Championship competition.
For the Spartans to advance, they will need to continue the performance they had today and maintain their spot in the top five teams of their regional site.
If they advance, the NCAA Championship is scheduled from May 16 to May 21 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
The third (and final) round of the regional is expected to be played on either Tuesday or Wednesday. If the regional can be completed on Tuesday, tee times will not begin before 2 p.m. (ET). An update will be shared at approximately 11 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday.
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