After a strong showing in the NCAA women’s golf regional in Nevada, the Purdue women’s golf team is ready to chase a national title at the NCAA Championships this week in California.
And, according to Purdue women’s coach Zach Byrd, his team was “able to put it together” last week at the Las Vegas Regional, finishing second behind Arkansas. It was the best finish for the Boilermakers since 2013. The finish erased some sour memories from his first year when Purdue women’s golf just missed out on advancing to the national tournament.
“Last year, it’s an understatement, it hurt a little bit. We were right there. A couple three puts late kept us from making it to nationals in a year where not many people were giving us a chance. We are doing a really good job in a lot of ways. We are playing our best golf at a really good time of the year,” Purdue women’s coach Zach Byrd said.
Arkansas won the regional on the opening day, posting a score of 280, which was four shots better than the Boilermakers. After the first day, Purdue women’s golf came out and matched a program NCAA low for any NCAA tournament, shooting an eight under par 280.
“It’s a huge thing. We wanted Vegas. I circled that when I took the job. I looked at regional sites that were coming up and saw Vegas and we circled that one. We built up momentum going into next week. They are angry at what our seed is, and I told them we are better than what our seed is. The harder it is, the harder they fight,” Byrd said.
Individually, Purdue women’s golf put three golfers into the top 13 at the Las Vegas Regional. Jasmine Kahler finished Even par, placing eighth. Momo Sugiyami was one over par and finished 11th, while Ashley Kozlowski finished two over and 13th.
For Purdue women’s golf, the finish was the result of a culture Byrd is establishing with the Boilermakers.
“Our culture is really good now. We were talking about it. We had the top transfer on a visit. I tell everyone the culture we had at Ole Miss when I was there was one of love and being together, and that is what we are building here. They are showing up and grinding every day, and that is what we are trying to build,” Byrd said.
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