SMU women’s golf advanced to the final round of the ACC Women’s Golf Championship after defeating North Carolina 3-1 in Saturday’s semifinal on April 18.
The result puts SMU in position to compete for its third conference title in four seasons and its first since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Mustangs will face Stanford, currently ranked as the top team in the country, with a championship match scheduled for Sunday morning.
The Mustangs earned a bye into the semifinals by finishing among the top two teams during stroke play earlier in the tournament. In their match against North Carolina, SMU needed three points from five individual pairings to secure victory. The competition began on hole No. 10, where SMU took early leads in three matches at the turn while one was tied and another trailed.
North Carolina secured the first point when Reagan Southerland defeated her opponent 2&1. However, SMU responded with wins: one player dominated her matchup against Megan Streicher with a 5&4 victory by winning five consecutive holes from No. 12 through No. 16; another prevailed over Ing Iadpluem with a score of 4&3 after never trailing and maintaining control throughout; and a third clinched overall victory for SMU by overcoming an early deficit and finishing with a 3&2 win.
One pairing between an SMU player and Helen Yang of UNC ended unfinished, though Odwin had just taken a one-hole lead with four left to play when play concluded.
Reflecting on her team’s performance, fifth-year head coach Lauren Mason said, “Our team did an excellent job of getting out to the early lead and maintaining that momentum throughout the round. Proud of this group is an understatement! It’s going to be an exciting finish with some possible inclement weather tomorrow afternoon. We’ve got a great opportunity to go head-to-head with the No. 1 team in the country and we’re looking forward to competing for a championship.”
