Amelia Garvey's Clutch Putt Sends USC Women's Golf To Nationals Out Of Stanford Regional
Senior Amelia Garvey, needing a par on 18 in the NCAA Stanford Regional's final hole to secure for USC the last ticket to nationals, drained her 11-foot putt as the Trojans clinched sixth place by one stroke and a chance to play for a national title.
The Trojans finished sixth at 8-over 860 (288-283-289), one stroke better than seventh-place Florida thanks to Garvey's final stroke. Host Stanford walked away with the region at 28-under 824 while top seed Wake Forest was second at 2-over. Oklahoma State took third (+3), followed by Virginia Tech (+4), Arizona (+5) and USC (+8). The region's top six seeds also advanced.
USC advances to the NCAA Championships final field for the 23rd straight time in Troy's 29th straight NCAA appearance. Nationals are set for May 21-26 at Grayhawk G.C. in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The last time the Trojans finished lower than fourth at a regional was back-to-back eighth-place finishes in 2001 and 2002, but those were good enough to advance in a three-region format.
The Trojans will now turn their sights on pursuing their fourth national championships while riding a current streak of 14 straight national top 5 finishes.
"We survived and that's the most important thing," USC Coach Justin Silverstein said. "This was an unusual week for us as we made some undisciplined decisions during the first couple rounds. Those decisions are 100% on me and (Assistant coach) Katie (Woodruff) and we'll be sure to clean that up before we go to Arizona.
"Garvey was rock solid all week she was nails on that final putt. Just incredible."
Garvey tied for 12th at par 213 (70-70-73), USC's high finisher for the second straight event. By the time she reached the green on 18 today, Troy's cushion over seventh-place Florida, once as many as eight strokes, was done to one.
A par sent USC on, a two-putt sent it to playoffs, three or more sent the Trojans home. She only needed one.
"I'm super stoked that I was able to get it done for the team on the last hole today," Garvey said. "It's probably the most clutch putt I've ever made with what was on the line. I'm excited to see what this team can do at nationals and happy I've got one more week competing as a Trojan!"
Senior Alyaa Abdulghany (72-72-71) and junior Malia Nam (74-71-70) tied for 18th. Nam's 1-under today led USC despite finishing bogey-bogey.
"We're all so excited to make it to nationals," Nam said. "It did get close at the end but Amelia was so clutch making an up-and-down. I'm disappointed on how i finished but overall I'm happy to have put up a solid score for the team."
Freshman Brianna Navarrosa tied for 36th at 5-over 218 (72-70-76) while senior Allisen Corpuz tied for 70th at 14-over 227 (76-76-75). Corpuz didn't have her A game this week, but came through with a 1-over back 9 to post a counting score.