Five Stokes Away from Qualifying, Can DU Rally to Make the NCAA Nationals?

Pioneers need big Wednesday to finish sixth and advance to championship in Scottsdale

By Jon Rizzi

The University of Denver women’s golf team—the only women’s squad from Colorado competing in this year’s NCAA Division I Regional Championships—is making its 19th consecutive appearance in the event.

However, 12  years have passed since the Pioneers advanced from the Regional to the National Championship, where they finished fifth in 2009.

To prevent that streak from reaching 13, the Pioneers will need to rally in Wednesday’s final round at Stanford Glf Course in Stanford, Calif.

The two-time defending Summit League champions—who began Tuesday tied for sixth, 15 shots ahead of Pepperdine and one ahead of Northwestern—posted a 9-over-par 293 to find themselves tied with those teams for eighth place at a 14-over 582, five strokes out of the sixth and final qualifying spot in the 18-team field.

The University of Florida currently occupies that coveted slot, one stroke ahead of seventh-place University of Arizona.

Denver lost ground in the penultimate round, as Mary Weinstein (76), Camille Enright (77) and Katarina Drocarova (77) all struggled.

Anna Zanusso shot her second consecutive 1-under-par 70, while Alyson Bean also shot 70, bouncing back from a Monday 78.

Zanusso, the Italian sophomore who competed in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, did bogey the par-3 17 and par-4 18th, but still stands in eighth place as an individual. Should Denver fail to qualify Wednesday for  Nationals, she could still play individually in the Nationals if she is one of top three finishers from a non-advancing team.

The Nationals  take place May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Zanusso and the rest of the team would rather go as a group. They have 18 holes to play on Wednesday to accomplish that.

For live updates from the Stanford regional, click here.

NOTES: Stanford University, playing on its home course, has fired a 25 under 543 over the first two rounds, 22 shots clear of second-place Virginia Tech and 39 clear of Denver.

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