Washington University women’s golf’s junior Sydney Kuo won the WashU Spring Invite by two strokes with a score of 145 (one stroke over par) across two rounds on April 6 and 7. 

“I felt a sense of relief, but also a lot of excitement and a lot of pride, because it just showcases how much hard work we’re putting in, and it’s a tangible outcome that you can physically see. Whether it’s through a trophy or when you see the leaderboard on the screen, to have that validation, I really live for it because, I mean, I love winning,” Kuo said after her first tournament victory of the season.

Led by Kuo, the No. 11 Washington University women’s golf team finished second, recording a score of 610 (34 strokes over par) on the par 72 course. WashU’s second team finished third with a total score of 635 (59 strokes over par). The tournament was won by No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan University, which shot 28 over par to finish with a score of 604. 

“We were quite happy with the way the tournament came out,” head coach Dave Reinhardt said about the tournament. “You know, our goal is always a Top 5 finish, and we finished second and third with both teams, which tells you the depth that we have for our program.”

The WashU Spring Invite effectively marks the halfway point in the Bears’ spring season, which will culminate in the NCAA Championships in late May. The team’s second-place finish is tied with its previous performance at the Savannah Invitational on March 11 and 12 for the team’s highest finish this season. At the Capitol Hill Classic on March 25 and 26, the Bears, who placed second at the 2023 NCAA Championships, ended the first day in eighth place before storming into fourth place where they would finish. At that tournament, first-year Amy Beanblossom finished the tournament in third, Kuo finished ninth, and junior McKensey Kaseta tied for 20th. 

At the Savannah Invitational, Kuo led the team, with a second-round score of three under par good enough to propel her to a tie for sixth place. Beanblossom and Chan both shot 147 (four over par) to notch eighth place.

For Reinhardt, the consistent Top 5 results are right where the team wants to be. 

“This is setting us up nicely for the rest of the two tournaments and hopefully the NCAA championships,” he said. “So we’re just going to keep putting our best foot forward, working on our short game, and working on course management [to] hopefully see some really good results.”

The victory at the WashU Spring Invite, the Bears’ annual home tournament, was Kuo’s first of the spring season. Kuo is the reigning PING Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Division III Player of the Year and reigning national runner-up, and has once again been the Bears’ top player so far this season.

Chan finished six strokes behind Kuo in sixth place at the Invite. The sophomore shot a 75 in the first round and a 76 in the second round to finish seven over par. Beanblossom was third on the Bears’ first team, finishing tied for ninth shooting 155 (11 over par) across the two rounds. Sophomore Athena Nguyen and junior Paige Warren finished tied for 20th and 48th respectively, with scores of 161 and 172.

This season, Chan has focused on balancing her golf games with other external factors, including school. 

“[I] definitely just [want to keep] my rhythm right now and just manage my time doing golf and school stuff as efficiently as possible,” she said.

Kaseta led WashU’s second team finishing in eighth place with a score of 154 (10 over par). Her second-round score of 75 was just one off of her lowest 18-hole score of 74 set in 2022. Senior Caraline Oakley and first-year Reagan Robinson finished behind Kaseta, both tied for 13th. Senior Krystina Wilson placed fourth for the Bears’ second team, tied for 44th place with a score of 171. 

The season has been one of resiliency for the Bears, often shooting their best rounds on the second day of the tournaments, most notably at the Capitol Hill Classic where they climbed from eighth to fourth over the stretch of the second round.

“I love our bounce-back situations that we do on day two and day three. At the same time, we do need to really hone in on day one and put ourselves in a great position and not play catch-up so much,” Reinhardt said about the Capitol Hill Classic. “If we focus and execute like we did in the Capitol Classic on day two, and on day two of this tournament, we should put ourselves in a good position.”

The Bears will next compete at the Emory Invitational in Muscle Shoals, Alabama on April 15 and 16 and the Take Back the Night Challenge in Decatur, Illinois on April 19 and 20. These two tournaments will be key in determining if the team earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky on May 21-24.

Since the UAA only has seven golf teams, the conference does not have a tournament and does not earn an automatic qualifier for nationals. As a result, the team needs to receive an at-large bid to make the tournament.

Both Kuo and Chan hope to use the rest of the spring season to make progress toward the goal of qualifying for the national championship.

“[I would like to] increase in the rankings, because making it to nationals definitely correlates with how we do in our next two tournaments and how much of a gap we can make with the team after us,” Chan said.

Kuo said that her goal for the rest of the spring is to win the NCAA championships, which she placed second at last year.

“If I do go to Nationals, I think my goal is to try to win this year,” she said. “That’s kind of been my goal since freshman year. I have really wanted to win Nationals individually.”

For the team, the goal is to get an at-large bid and play what Reinhardt describes as “par golf.”

“If we’re fortunate to get that bid, we will play some quality golf leading up to that and just do our best to give us the best opportunity to play good golf, shoot par, and place well.”