Blount, HSU women sweep DII regional golf championships
Going into the final day of play with a 4-stroke lead, Henderson State University junior Gracen Blount knew she just had to simply play her game to take home the NCAA Division II Central Regional individual title, and that is exactly what the Lakeside grad did on the Park Course at Hot Springs Country Club Wednesday.
Blount secured the individual championship with a 4-over par 76 final round to finish at a 1-over par 217 after three days of play. The junior held off Central Missouri’s Rosie Klausner and Central Oklahoma’s Susana Olivares who finished tied for second at 3 over.
The win marks Blount’s second individual title on her hometown course in the last three weeks after the junior won the Great American Conference championship April 12.
“It means so much,” Blount said. “I love Hot Springs. I loved growing up here. It’s a really special memory to have with all my friends winning as a team, too. Just really proud of everyone on my team and just all of our accomplishments this season.”
Blount finished the front nine at even par after bogeying the par-4 fourth but then rebounding with a birdie on the par-4 sixth.
The junior then bogeyed the par-5 13th and leveled out with pars on holes 14 through 17. The unforgiving, hilly terrain of the green on 18 gave Blount some trouble, and she finished her title-securing round with a triple-bogey.
However, the tough fin
ish could not erase Blount’s achievements on the course over the past three days.
“It’s been one of my goals since I started playing golf — since I started playing for Henderson,” she said. “Didn’t finish quite like I wanted to on the last hole. But I guess I had a few to spare so winning ugly is still winning.”
The Reddies took home the team title as well, finishing at an 18-over par 882 tally after three rounds. Just like Blount, HSU secured its second title in three weeks at Hot Springs Country Club after taking home the GAC championship.
“It’s sweet,” HSU first-year head coach Colton Cowan said. “That’s about all we can say on that. All the hard work all the way from August to now, it definitely puts a lot of things into perspective. Kind of all the challenges, adversity, everything we kind of faced throughout the year finally came to light.”
Allie Bianchi and Karen Lee both notched top-five finishes for the Reddies. Bianchi finished in fourth at a 4-under 220, and Lee tied with Arkansas Tech’s Jacqueline Klemm in fifth at an 8-over 224.
HSU finished the first round in third place, but jumped into first after an even 288 second round. The Reddies then shot a 5-over par 293 to secure the title Wednesday.
“Past three days, they’ve been good,” Cowan said. “First day was a little rocky, which we didn’t compete for two and half weeks, so there’s going to be a little dust that kind of forms just not quite being in that environment. They came back and responded well the second day and closed it out today. Performance overall was great.”
Central Missouri finished second at 42 over, and Rogers State came in third at 49 over. Arkansas Tech just missed out on the top three, shooting a 54over 918 after three rounds.
Individually, Blount had her best day Tuesday with a 4-under par 68, but the junior had little trouble staying around par during the other two days of competition.
“Obviously (Tuesday) was a good day,” she said. “I left a few putts out there, but you can’t complain about that. The two other days were about the same. I just didn’t finish great here today. Having that said, I was hitting the ball well this week. I would’ve liked to see a few more putts drop, but I had tap-ins for par really all week besides just a few. Can’t complain too much.”
With their top three finishes, HSU, Central Missouri and Rogers State booked their ticket to the national championships at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Georgia, from May 10 to May 14. Olivares and Klemm also advanced as individuals to play in Georgia next week.
“Nationals, that’s where you win the national championship,” Cowan said. “That’s why you play. That’s why you play college sports, is to go and compete for a national championship. … The atmosphere, you’ve got the best teams in the country fighting it out to see who’s going to win. That’s why you play. That’s why you coach.”
Blount said she looks forward to “everything” at the national championships.
“Competing with my team, us being there together, the memories we’re going to make together and just competing,” she said. “At the end of the day I love this sport, but I wouldn’t love it if there wasn’t anyone to compete against. I’m just really happy we can go as a team and try to get it done at the national level.”