SDSU women’s golf team leads nation with five wins

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BROOKINGS – The 66th-ranked South Dakota State women's golf team is the best in Division I when it comes to winning regular-season titles this season.

In the latest Golfstat rankings, the Jackrabbits are tied with Florida State for the most regular-season wins with five.

In its most recent outing, SDSU captured the Lady Thunderbird Invitational for the second consecutive season in St. George, Utah, on March 16-17. SDSU beat the field by 11 strokes and set school records for 18- and 36-hole scores, shooting 282 both rounds for a 564 on the par-72, 6,092-yard Sunbrook Golf Course on the Black Rock & The Point.

The win in Utah was South Dakota State's second consecutive after triumphing in the Jackrabbit Invitational on March 10-11 for a second-year in row.

SDSU opened the 2016-17 season by capturing the Omaha Invitational (Sept. 3-4) and then the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial (Sept. 12-13). The third win of the year was the Seton Hall Pirate Invitational on Oct. 28-29.

For the season, the Jackrabbits have won five tournaments and have three other top-three finishes. Their lowest finish, top-10 placing, was at the Hurricane Invitational on Feb. 27-March 1. In that tournament, SDSU initially broke the school record for 18 holes, shooting a 283 in the final round against six teams ranked in the top 50.

Since third-year head coach Casey VanDamme and his staff took over the program, SDSU has won 10 of the program's 12 regular-season titles and broke the 18-, 36- and 54-hole school records. Currently, the Jackrabbits have the school record for lowest stroke average in a single season with a 297.84, which ranks first in the Summit League.

Up Next

South Dakota State plays its final regular-season tournament April 9-10 at the Kansas City Shootout.