Women’s Golf comes from behind to win NACC Championship
MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin saved its best golf for the final round, overcoming an eight-shot deficit to win the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship by 10 strokes on Sunday afternoon at Meadowbrook Country Club.
In addition, sophomore Leah Wilde (Kewaskum, Wis.) won the NACC Championship medalist honors after shooting a 54-hole total of 257. She entered the final round trailing teammate Maddy Zastrow (senior, Greendale, Wis.) by a stroke and ended the tournament with a four-hole stretch of golf in 2-over par to come from behind to win.
THE BASICS
Course: Meadowbrook Country Club (par 71, 5,829 yards)
Team Leaderboard: 1st of 7 (368-358-351 – 1,077)
Falcon Individuals: Leah Wilde 257 (86-85-86 - 257), Maddy Zastrow (85-85-88 - 258), Molly Mundinger (97-99-86 - 282), Kayla Haen (108-89-91 - 288), Amy Carpenter (100-105-107 - 312)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Concordia Wisconsin trailed by eight strokes after the opening round of play and couldn't make up any ground on Aurora after the second 18 holes were concluded. However, Sunday was a different story as they counted four scores of 91 or lower to turn that deficit into a 10-shot victory.
- The NACC Championship is the fifth in program history and first since 2013. They previously won league titles in 2013, 2012, 2010 and 2009. It also ended a stretch of three-consecutive championships won by Aurora.
- Wilde found herself two shots off the top spot on the leaderboard at the turn, after shooting a 43, while Zastrow had 41 strokes. She made up ground on the 11th hole with a par, but gave those strokes back with a double on the par 4 14th. The sophomore regrouped and drained par putts on 15 and 17, to go along with bogeys on 16 and 18 to win medalist honors by a shot.
- Wilde, Zastrow and freshman Molly Mundinger (West Bend, Wis.) all finished in the top-10 to earn All-NACC accolades.
- Mundinger charged up the leaderboard with an 86 to tie for 10th place. She had five pars during the final round of action.
- Junior Kayla Haen (Appleton, Wis.) fired a final round 91, which was the fourth scored counted, to help the Falcons win. She had a birdie, two pars and nine bogeys in the final round.
- Freshman Amy Carpenter (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) finished in 20th overall with a 312 total score (100-105-107), which included three pars and 19 bogeys throughout the 54-hole event.
- Head coach Greg Nikolai was named NACC Coach of the Year after coaching the team to the first title under his leadership.
BEYOND THE RESULTS
- The Falcons 351 total in the third round is the seventh lowest total in program history. As well, their 54-hole total of 1,077 is the second best ever.
- Wilde's 257 total over the three-day event is the fourth-best in program history, while Zastrow's 258 strokes is the fifth best.
- Wilde became the fourth golfer in program history to capture NACC Championship medalist honors.
- Concordia Wisconsin had the most pars (60) and birdies (six) of any team in the tournament.
- Wilde led all players in par 3 scoring average (3.53) and par 5 scoring average (5.33). She also had the most pars (21) and was tied for first with two birdies.
- Zastrow sank 15 pars and two birdies, while averaging 4.93 on par 4s and 5.58 on par 5s - both ranked second.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons will take some time to enjoy their title before starting to prepare for the spring portion of their season.
