Monroeville native tees off in final
Tri-State Sports & News Service
After the opening round of the NCAA Division III women’s golf championships, Johnna Beehner could barely find her name on the leader board.
“Forty-ninth,” the Monroeville native said. “Tied . ... For 49th.”
Not an ideal position to be in for a top-tier golfer who not only finished ninth at the event a year earlier, but was ranked eighth nationally entering the four-day tournament (May 8-11) in Howey-inthe-Hills, Fla.
Talk about starting out in the rough ...
“Lot of three-putting,” said Beehner, a sophomore second-team All-American at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. “I just couldn’t get it going on that first day.”
Beehner could have easily surrendered at that point. She could have aborted her dream of winning a national title, at least for 2018.
But this former Gateway High star — who was educated via PA Cyber school — demonstrated the moxie and resiliency that made her one of the WPIAL’s top players from 2013-16.
She relentlessly charged up the leader board — from 49th on Day 1 to 38th on Day 2 to fifth on Day 3 — before finishing fourth with a score of 17-over 309.
She finished six strokes off the top spot and two out of second place.
“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” Beehner said. “But this was a big accomplishment.”
Her total of 226 in the final three rounds tied champion Margaret Loncki of Claremont Mudd Scripps. It also bested No. 2 and No. 3 finishers Navika Kuchakulla of New York University (227) and Jane Hopkinson-Wood of Wittenberg (232).
“After starting out 49th, I just went out and played, didn’t try to make any type of big push,” said Beehner, who finished third at the PIAA finals as a senior, while placing second, fifth, seventh and 12th at the WPIAL championships during her Gateway career. “I really didn’t think I’d get back into contention. This was an improvement over last year. I had to fight my way back, so it’s pretty cool to finish fourth.”
In the team standings, Claremont Mudd Scripps edged Williams College in a playoff. George Fox University placed third, NYU fourth and Carnegie Mellon fifth.
Methodist, a Division III powerhouse, checked in at seventh.
“This is a great program to be a part of, all the way around,” Beehner said of Methodist, which won 25 of the first 30 women’s championships from 1986-2015. “It pushes me each day to be my best.”
At the NCAA finals, Beehner made her push on the strength of hitting 15 of 18 greens in each of her four rounds. Had it not been for some unfortunate putting on Day 1, she might have won it all.
To underscore: In the first round, she carded five bogeys, three double-bogeys and just one birdie en route to an 83. Conversely, she registered three birdies, four bogeys and one double-bogey on the final day of competition for a 76.
Her best round, a 74, came on the second day.
“The putts weren’t where they needed to be to start out, but I saw improvement after that,” said Beehner, renowned for driving a tee shot nearly 300 yards. “When you’re hitting a lot of greens, it definitely helps to get you through. And when the putts started falling, it made a big difference.”
Beehner has been a difference-maker at Methodist since arriving in 2016. After being named a third-team All-American as a freshman, she nabbed the second-team honor this spring.
She finished in the top 10 in eight of 10 events, including two second-place finishes, a third and two fourths. She also set a program record with a 66 (7 under) in the first round at Callaway Gardens.
Despite playing just two seasons at Methodist, she already ranks third all time in wins (five) and in rounds of par or better (six).
A marketing major with a concentration on professional golf management, Beehner believes a national championship is possible.
“I think I have a good chance,” she said, humbly. “Even this year, if I had put a good first round together, I would have been right there. So yes, I know now that it can be done.”