Oregon State’s Chayse Gomez posted the school’s best-ever finish at the NCAA women’s golf tournament when the Beavers junior tied for 10th Monday.
Gomez shot a final round 1-under 71 to finish at 5-under for 72 holes at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Gomez tied Stanford’s Sadie Englemann and Texas’ Huai-Chien Hsu at 283, five strokes behind NCAA medalist Rose Zhang of Stanford.
Gomez was one of three players to break par all four rounds on the par-72, 6,368-yard course, joining Florida State’s Charlotte Heath and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez-Ortega.
Gomez is the first OSU woman to finish in the top 10 at the NCAA tournament. Oregon State’s previous best finish at the NCAAs was 25th, by Kathleen Takaishi in 1998. Oregon State’s Mary Budke won the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics) national title in 1974. The NCAA began staging women’s golf tournaments in 1982.
Gomez was remarkably consistent over 72 holes, shooting scores of 71-71-70-71.
Gomez was the lone Beaver to play Monday, as Oregon State’s team did not make the 54-hole cut. Gomez advanced as she was one of the top nine individuals not playing for a team that made the cut.
Gomez’s final round included four birdies and three bogeys. Starting on the back nine, Gomez had two birdies and a bogey on her first three holes. She turned in 1-under 35, then bogeyed the par-3 fifth to fall to even par. But Gomez finished on a high note, making birdie at the par-4 ninth – a hole that produced only eight birdies among 84 players Monday — to finish under par for a fourth consecutive day.
–Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel
