On March 30, sophomore Amy Beanblossom won her first collegiate golf tournament. She posted a round of 5 over par, good enough for third place at the Cardinal Classic in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, April 21. One day later, she teed off, moving up two spots to secure her second collegiate win with a second round score of 72 (E), the only even round for any golfer in the tournament.

The No. 4 WashU women’s golf team won the Cardinal Classic with a combined team score of 39 over par, 24 strokes ahead of the second place Illinois Wesleyan University. WashU had the most dramatic improvement of any team during the second round, posting a combined score of 11 over par, 17 strokes lower than their combined score on the first day that saw up to 40 mph winds.

“That was a really nice season ending victory for us,” Head Coach Dave Reinhardt said. “As you know, this spring, we had a couple of second-place finishes and a couple of fourths. So to end up on a winning note really gives us some nice energy to go into the NCAA championships if we do get picked for them as an at-large bid.”

Beanblossom credited the team’s success to their underdog mentality and ability to make adjustments between rounds.

“Some of our team culture, I would describe as we kind of like to come up from behind,” she said. “I think in the past, we’ve had a history of kind of getting off to rough start, maybe the first day or two of a tournament, and then that’s kind of a good wake up call … So I think we were a team that really likes to grind and won’t let a little slip up mess us up. We kind of do better when we are the underdog, so to speak.”

The win was also important as the Bears hope to carry their momentum into championship month.

“It’s huge, with going to the championship month, just to learn how to win,” Reinhardt said. “And we won three times, and you might not have your best stuff that day, but if you get the ball in a hole with your B game or your C game.”

After recording a first round of five over par, with three bogeys and one double, Beanblossom returned to the course, shooting one under par through the first nine. She recorded two birdies and three bogeys on the second nine to finish the round with an even 72 and a three-stroke lead over fellow WashU golfer junior Tiffany Chan.

“I hoped I would do better, just because the weather was much more favorable,” Beanblossom said about the second round. “The first day was super cold and with like 35 mile an hour wind gusts. And then the second day was a lot warmer with a little bit less wind. So I was feeling good the first day. I thought I drove it really well, considering the weather. So I would hope that would translate to the next day. And I was hoping I would make more putts and stick some irons closer to the greens. And that definitely happened. But yeah, everything, basically the second day was working really well.”

Chan placed second, three strokes behind Beanblossom, shooting rounds of 80 (+8) and 75 (+3), which included an even second nine during her second round.

After missing the start of the season due to injury, sophomore Reagan Robinson tied for fourth place with a combined score of 13 over par. First-year Nicole McGuire tied for fourth alongside Robinson shooting 78 (+6) on the first day and 79 (+7) on the second round. Robinson finished the first round in 14th place before shooting a 73 (+1) to move up ten spots.

Senior McKensey Kaseta was the Bears’ third highest finisher, shooting two rounds of 81 (+9) to finish in 13th place. 

Three WashU golfers competed as independents, meaning they could not be considered one of the top four players whose scores combine to create the team score.

First-year Mabrie McMahan placed 11th after climbing five spots during the second round with a four over round of 76. Junior Athena Nguyen moved up two spots in the second round to finish tied for 14th with a combined score of 21 over par. Senior Paige Warren rounded the trio finishing in 39th place moving up nine spots during the second round.

With the win, the Bears wrap up the regular season, which has seen them ranked in the top five throughout the entire season. WashU won one tournament and recorded two second place finishes. The No. 4 team in Division III will now wait until early May to learn if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships on May 13-16 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Since the University Athletic Association (UAA) only has four teams competing in women’s golf, the conference does not earn any automatic spots in the national championship. 

The last time the WashU golf team made the NCAA Championships in 2023, they placed national runner-up and then-senior Annie Mascot became the first ever WashU golfer to win an individual national championship.

As the Bears approach the post-season and classes start to wind down, they hope to use the extra time to work on course management and to spend more time on the golf course and the range, according to Beanblossom. Reinhardt also hopes to use the time to be more intentional with their practice time approaching a hopeful appearance at nationals.

“We have a lot more free time, so I think we are looking to get out on the course more and work on course management,” Beanblossom said. “And then also just a lot of short game and putting which has kinda been the key focus,” she said.