ASHTIN ELDER

Sophomore and tournament winner Amy Beanblossom takes a shot at the UC Santa Cruz Invitational. (courtesy of Kodiak Creative)

Sophomore Amy Beanblossom won the 2025 University of California, Santa Cruz Invitational with a combined score of 143 strokes (+1) on March 29-30. The No. 4 WashU women’s golf team placed second at the tournament, finishing one stroke behind Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with a combined score of 33 strokes over par.

“I was super excited,” Beanblossom said. “At the beginning of the season, we all made season goals, and one of mine that I wrote down was to win a tournament. So having that checked off my list was really rewarding.”

WashU ended the first day of play leading the tournament and sitting only five strokes over par. However, the second day proved more challenging for the field, with WashU shooting 28 over compared to Claremont’s 25 to finish second behind the Stags.

“Our goal at the beginning of the year was top three finishes,” head coach Dave Reinhardt said about the team’s result. “And I’ve kind of amended that to where … we can finish first and second at every tournament we play in. And we accomplished our goal.”

The second day was testing due to the change in weather, according to Beanblossom. As the second half began, winds from the Pacific Ocean swept across the course, leading to higher scores across the board.

Beanblossom led the field wire-to-wire, finishing the first day in the lead with a season-low round of 68 strokes (-3). Across her first round, she recorded four birdies and one bogey. The second day proved trickier for Beanblossom, who shot a score of 75 (+4), recording five bogeys and one birdie to finish the tournament with a season-low score of 143 strokes and her first collegiate win.

Throughout the season, Beanblossom, who is the third individual tournament winner for the Bears this year, has worked on improving her short game — chipping and putting — and enjoying her time on the course.

“Short game is just a huge part of the game,” she said. “I think that’s something I’ve realized being in college and even my last few years of high school, I think I’m more of a person to spend 30 to 40 minutes on the range and then just more of my time on the putting green. I think that’s translated really well, because when your irons are off, you can still have a good day. If you’re making up and downs and making putts, that’s really where most of the scoring happens.”

Reinhardt attributes Beanblossom’s success to the consistency of her golf swing and her confidence on the course.

“Amy has really improved her golf swing to make it much more repeatable,” he said. “I think she has worked on her short game, and I think she’s just got the confidence knowing that she can compete against the best golfers in Division III, and all of our top players have the ability to win golf tournaments.”

Senior Sydney Kuo, who has been a standout for the Bears during her four years in St. Louis, placed fifth with a score of 150 strokes (+8), moving up three spots on the second day. Junior Athena Nguyen finished the first round tied for fourth with a one over round. The California native finished the second round with a score of eight over par to ultimately shoot nine over par and place seventh in her home tournament to round out the Bears’ finishers in the top ten.

First-years Nicole McGuire and Mabrie McMahan rounded out the Bears’ top five finishers, in 19th and 40th place, respectively. McGuire has been a consistent presence for WashU, competing in every tournament throughout her first season of collegiate golf.

With two second-place finishes under its belt, WashU will take a week off before travelling to West Pine Golf Club in Douglasville, Georgia, for the Emory Golf Invite on April 13-14. In Douglasville, the Bears will face off against two conference rivals and D-III powerhouses: No. 1 Carnegie Mellon University and No. 2 Emory.

Going into the tournament Reinhardt plans to continue working on the mechanics of the team’s short game and building their confidence on approach shots and putts. 

“It’s going to come down to short game and putting to beat the Carnegie Mellons and the Emorys of golf,” he said. “So we’re going to really focus on the proper drills to make putts when we need to make putts, and also work on some mental approaches. All of us need to be confident when we’re on the putting green, and all of us need to be confident when we’re hitting shots closer to the flag.”

The Bears will then round out their season at the North Central College Invite on April 21-22 before learning if they will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship — at which the Bears were national runners-up the last time they earned a bid in 2022.