Ohio State freshman Faith Choi finishes her swing during the Lady Buckeye Invitational April 15. Credit: Danny Fogarty | Asst. Campus Editor
Head coach Lisa Strom and the Buckeyes looked for their 19th conference title at the 40th Big Ten Women’s Golf Championship. Although it did not place first in the tournament, Ohio State ended up with one of its best finishes of the season.
Ohio State finished tied for third place in the Big Ten Championship at the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh Friday through Sunday. The Buckeyes were led by freshman Faith Choi who placed second individually — the best finish of her college career.
The finish came just a week after Ohio State placed first at the Lady Buckeye Invitational, making Sunday’s finish the Buckeyes’ second-best of the spring. Strom said this potential has always been in her golfers, but it is now coming to fruition.
“It’s been in them, it’s just drawing it out of them,” Strom said. “You just kind of keep building your own self-trust and your own self-belief, and that bleeds over to the team, and that bleeds over to better performance and better results.”
Ohio State led the field in par-5 scoring and shot 39 birdies — third-most in the tournament. The Buckeyes, who shot 12-over 864 after three rounds, finished seven strokes behind first-place Michigan.
In the first round Friday, Ohio State shot 5-over 289 on its way to tying for sixth place. Choi, as well as junior Lauren Peter and freshman Jillian Bourdage, finished in the top 16 after 18 holes.
The Buckeyes moved up to tie for fifth place with Maryland following the second round Saturday in which they scored 4-over 288.
Entering the final round Sunday, Ohio State was seven strokes behind third-place Northwestern.
In the final 18 holes, the Buckeyes had their best round of the tournament, shooting 20 birdies and scoring 3-over 287 to tie the Wildcats for the No. 3 spot.
Choi shot six of those birdies on her way to scoring 4-under 67, which was the second-best individual score for any round in the tournament.
Choi said a crowd gathered around her during the final back nine, making her nervous for her final holes. However, with Strom’s help, she said she was able to keep her composure and finish the outing strong.
“One of the most important things for me was just to stay calm and just ignore everything,” Choi said. “It was really helpful to have coach Strom there for the rest of my five or six holes.”
Ohio State will now wait to watch the NCAA Division I women’s golf selection show Wednesday at 4 p.m. on the Golf Channel. If selected, the Buckeyes will compete in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Regionals at one of six regional sites May 9-11.
Strom said she expects her team to make it to the NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals. She said although there is work to be done, she is glad how her team performed in these last two tournaments, making her confident it will move on.
“We just need to keep pushing that and nudging that up a little bit higher and set that bar a little bit higher and a little bit higher,” Strom said. “We did a great job of getting the job done those last two weeks and kept it in our control, and we don’t have to sweat it out.”
