Kent State University
Mid-American Conference Championship
No. 15 Women's Golf Wins 19th Straight MAC Championship
4/23/2017 7:07:00 PM | Women's Golf
SILVER LAKE, Ohio – The No. 15 Kent State University women's golf team won its 19th straight MAC Women's Golf Championship Sunday at the Silver Lake Country Club.
The Golden Flashes, who have won every championship tournament put on by the MAC, won the tournament by 34 strokes. The tournament hosts posted a final score of 11-over par 875 (289-299-288). The closest team to the Flashes was second-place Northern Illinois at 45-over par. Kent State's four scorers made up the overall top-4 and were the only golfers in the field to finish within 10 strokes of par.
"It was a good week, I'm proud of all of them," said head coach Greg Robertson. "Coming into the week we prepared well and did the things we needed to do. Everybody came out, stayed focused, and took care of business for 54 holes."
The individual tournament championship went to sophomore Michaela Finn, who finished at 2-under par 214 on the weekend. She entered Sunday with a four-stroke lead on teammate Pimnipa Panthong and would finish three strokes up with a 1-under 71 in the final round. She started her day off with birdies on the first two holes to build a cushion, and finished with four birdies on the day.
After the tournament, Kent State would bring home several pieces of hardware. Panthong headlined postseason award winners as the 2017 MAC Golfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Head coach Greg Robertson won Coach of the Year honors, his second award in three seasons. Panthong and Finn joined Wad Phaewchimplee and Karoline Stormo to make up four of the five members of the All-MAC First Team. That same four were all named to the All-Tournament team.
Panthong gave Finn a tough fight for the title in a second-place finish. She had the best round of any golfer in the field Sunday at 2-under par 70, matching Finn's second round score for the best in the tournament. Panthong finished at 1-over par 217. Fellow freshman Karoline Stormo placed third with a score of 4-over par 220. She played her best round of golf Sunday with a score of 1-under par 71.
Competing in her last MAC Championship, Phaewchimplee finished fourth overall with a score of 8-over par 224. Phaewchimplee got off to a tough start in round three, but finished the back nine strong with three birdies to card a 76. Kelly Nielsen had her best round of the weekend to finish her first MAC Championship appearance. Her third round score of 77 pushed her into a tie for 23rd at 19-over par 235.
The Flashes will move on to the NCAA Regional Tournament May 8-10. Regional sites in 2017 are Athens, Georgia, Lubbock, Texas, Columbus, Ohio and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The selection show will air on the Golf Channel's Morning Drive April 27 at 11 a.m.
First Team All-MAC:
Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State
Wad Phaewchimplee, Kent State
Michaela Finn, Kent State
Danielle Nicholason, Akron
Karoline Stormo, Kent State
Second Team All-MAC:
Hailey Hryenwich, Ohio
Pinyada Kuvanun, Toledo
Kelsey Murphy, EMU
Brielle Ward, NIU
Pimchanok Kawil, Toledo
Golfer of the Year:
Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State
Freshman of the Year:
Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State
Sportswoman of the Year:
Fran Rodriguez, Bowling Green
Coach of the Year:
Greg Robertson, Kent State
All-Tournament Team:
Michaela Finn, Kent State
Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State
Karoline Stormo, Kent State
Wad Phaewchimplee, Kent State
Hailey Hrynewich, Ohio
Jasmine Chee, Western Michigan
Players Mentioned
