Michigan State women’s golf played in the second round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, May 17. The Spartans teed off around noon (2:50 p.m. ET) playing at the par 72 course at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
After the first round, MSU held a three-way tie for 13th place after shooting a 6-over par. At the end of Saturday's round, the green and white fell to 20th place after carding a 15-over par and now sit at 21-over par overall.
Stanford had an impressive 10-under-par score on Saturday, surging them into first place with a 5-under overall score. Northwestern trails in second at even par, with Oregon in third place at 1-over. Southern California and Florida State are all tied up just outside the top three, with a 3-over par score.
The third round will be played on Sunday, May 18 and after these 72-holes, the 30 teams will be cut in half and trimmed to just the top 15. Florida currently holds 15th place overall with a 13-over-par score, meaning Michigan State will have to make up this eight-stroke deficit to qualify in the top 15 teams to move on to Monday’s round.
On Saturday, and now after 36 holes, junior Paula Balanzateugi has the lowest scorecard for the Spartans overall. On Friday, Balanzateugi highlighted the consistency in her play with 14 pars and one birdie, shooting a 3-over par. Balanzateugi's efforts continued in the second round with a 1-over par performance that helped raise her placement from 78th to 53rd at 4-over par.
Fellow junior Taylor Kehoe posted a 3-over par on Saturday that helped her place 67th overall at 5-over par so far in the tournament.
Senior Katie Lu was the best finisher for the Spartans at the end of round one with an even-par score placing 27th overall. However, the senior endured a tough second round that dropped her placement to 80th after swinging 6-over par on Saturday. Despite the tough round, Lu’s performance shows how tight placement is between players and teams, emphasizing the Spartans need to stabilize on Sunday.
Sophomore Ana Sofia Murcia finished the first round with six pars and five birdies, three of those coming from the back nine. Murcia was unable to replicate this performance in the second 18 holes and fell to a 6-over par round, slipping to 93rd place with a 7-over scorecard.
Lastly, senior Brooke Biermann has been quiet for the Spartans ever since her even-par score that helped MSU place third in the Norman Regional NCAA Tournament. Biermann had a 3-over par finish in the first round with 10 pars and two birdies but was unable to build momentum shooting a 5-over par on Saturday, finishing the first 36 holes at 8-over.
Heading into Sunday, the Spartans need to move into the top 15 teams or they will head back home. The team is eight strokes back and will need a collective effort and momentum to make up the deficit. Should the Spartans make the top 15, they’ll have one more day of stroke play on Monday, May 19, and from there the top eight teams will move on to match play to compete for the national title.
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