Kent State Golden Flashes Fall to Northwestern in the National Women’s Golf Quarterfinals

After being in second place for much of the stroke play of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, the Kent State Golden Flashes had a bit of a hiccup. They went into a free fall, helped by 30 mile an hour winds, and barely hung on for the 8th spot. The good news is that the top 8 teams advance to the match-play portion of the competition. The bad news is that as the 8th seed, they faced local favorites the Northwestern Wildcats.

It was always going to be a tough match, with Northwestern having all 5 golfers in the top 25 of stroke place. A tough match it was, with Kent State finally falling, 3-2.

According to the write up on the Kent State Women’s Golf page, this is the first time a school from outside the Power 5 ever advanced to match play. Another interesting and exciting tidbit from the article, they return 4 of the players for 2 or more years. A top 8 finish is fantastic, and a future national title is in play.

Also from the Kent State page, Pimnipa Panthong was named a second team all-American. The freshman was named the Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year.

Though I don’t want to jinx the team, I do feel a little bit like LeBron when he took his talents to South Beach. While it’s unlikely, it is possible that this team could win multiple national championships. I am happy with the run they made this year, and will be keeping my eye on the team from the beginning next season.