FSU sports information:
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Florida State All-American Lottie Woad finished in third place in the individual standings, and the Florida State Women’s Golf Team finished in fifth place in the team standings at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional Championship at the Spanish Trail Country Club and advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. (May 17-22). The Seminoles have advanced out of the regional stage to the championship finals stage in each of the last eight years the tournament has been held.
Florida State will play in the NCAA Championship Finals for the school-record eighth consecutive year. The Seminoles have now qualified for each NCAA Championship Finals tournament since 2016 (there was no tournament played in 2020).
Senior All-American Charlotte Heath led the Seminoles in the final round with an even par score of 72. Heath finished in a tie for 21st place in the individual standings with a three-round total of 221. Woad (third place, 212), senior Alice Hodge (tied for 15th, 219), Heath, and sophomore Mirabel Ting (tied for 36th, 226) were the Seminoles’ top four finishers in the individual standings.
The Seminoles advanced to the championship finals along with Arkansas (first place), Purdue (second), Baylor (third), and UCLA (fourth place). The Seminoles finished two strokes ahead of Arizona for the fifth and final spot to advance out of the regional and into the championship finals. Zoe Campos of UCLA and Kajal Mistry finished in a tie for first in the individual standings with 6 under par scores of 210.
Woad earned her second career top-10 regional finish as she finished in third place. She finished in a tie for sixth place in the NCAA Raleigh Regional as a freshman. She came within six stroke of tying Florida State’s all-time record low score in an NCAA regional championship tournament. The Seminoles’ record for the best regional score is 206 (-10) by both Seminole All-Americans Morgane Metraux and Amanda Doherty in 2018 at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Championship.
Woad (third place, senior Alice Hodge (tied for 16th place), and Heath (tied for 20th place) gave Florida State multiple top-20 individual finishers in the same regional for the eighth time in school history: 2004 (Carrie Sordel, T9; Katie Quinney, T12), 2011 (Jessica Negron, T3; Maria Salinas, T6), 2016 (Matilda Castren, T1; Kim Metraux, T7; Lydia Gumm, T15), 2017 (Amanda Doherty, Gumm, Morgane Metraux, all T13), 2018 (Morgane Metraux, T4; Doherty, T4; Kathleen Sumner, T16), 2019 (Doherty, T6; Frida Kinhult, T13; Beatrice Wallin, T13; Puk Lyng Thomsen, T17), 2021 (Amelia Williamson, T2; Wallin, T7), and now 2024 (Lottie Woad, 3; Alice Hodge, T15, Heath, T20).
In finishing in fifth place at the Las Vegas regional, the Seminoles finished in fifth place or better in a regional championship for the 11th time in school history and for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. The Seminoles won regional championships at Louisville (2021) and in Tallahassee (2022). The Seminoles have finished in the top five in a school record eight consecutive NCAA regional championships.
Florida State’s fifth place finish marks the 11thtime in program history the Seminoles have earned a top-five NCAA Regional Championship finish. It marks the eighth consecutive top five finish under Head Coach Amy Bond. Bond has been a member of each of the Seminoles’ program for 11 top-five regional finishes – eight as the programs head coach, two as an assistant coach (2004 and 2006) and one as a player (1999). Bond was Florida State’s highest finisher in 1999 (tied for 11th place) as the Seminoles advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals from the NCAA East Regional Championship.
Woad’s third place finish makes her the sixth player in school history to finish in third place or better in a regional championship. She joins Beatrice Wallin (First, 2022, Tallahassee), Maria Salinas (Tied for first, 2012, Columbus, Ohio), Matilda Castren (tied for first, 2016 Shoal Creek, Ala.), Amelia Williamson (Tied for second, 2021, Simpsonville, Ky.) and Jessica Negron (Tied for third, 2011, Daytona Beach, Fla.) as the six Seminoles to finish in third place or better in a regional championship. Woad earned just the 10th top-five individual finish by a Seminole in a regional championship.
Florida State enters the 2024 NCAA Championship finals having earned the top three finishes in school history in the last three years (ninth place in the 2021, tied for fifth place in the 2022, and tied for fifth place in 2023). The Seminoles have advanced to match play in each of the last two seasons and are one of only three schools in the nation (Florida State, Stanford, and Texas A&M) that have advanced to match play in both of the last two years.