Women’s Golf brings home first CAA title in nearly a decade

John Crouch/CAA

As it has all season, UNC Wilmington relied on a standout performance from freshman Phu Khine, this time, to bring in the Seahawks’ fifth Colonial Athletic Association championship.

Khine entered Sunday’s final round of play, at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C., tied for fourth but quickly made her way to the individual lead shooting par at 72. The Yangon, Myanmar native posted 7-over par with 223 in three rounds (76-75-72) topping Charleston’s Victoria Huskey by one stroke (73-76-75=224).

The Seahawks were also led to victory by junior Thao My Nguyen, who led going into Sunday’s round of the championship with a 148 (+4). Nguyen shot 77 on Sunday to drop her to a third-place tie with Towson’s Jordan Cornelius (73-76-76=225), the best finish by a Towson student-athlete since the Tigers joined the CAA.

Freshman Madison Isaacson went 18-over (78-78-78=234) locking her in for a 12th-place finish, while sophomore Rachael Mast finished at 24-over (82-78-76=240) and secured the 14th-place spot. Mast also recorded the lowest nine-hole score of the weekend with 32 on the front side Sunday.

The Seahawks held the first-place spot from start to finish over the weekend, improving their team score by three strokes every day (309-306-303=918), going 54-over and securing the win. The ‘Hawks finished 17 strokes over Delaware (315-307-313=935) and 18 strokes over defending CAA champion College of Charleston (314-312-310=936).

Head coach Cindy Ho, who has been at the helm for 17 seasons, coached the Seahawks to their first CAA crown since 2012 and their fifth conference title all-time — all under her tutelage.

UNCW also earned the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship field, which will be revealed on Wednesday, April 24. This year’s NCAA Championship will be hosted by Arkansas and is set to be played at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, A.R. from May 17-22.

Assistant Sports Editor Noah Powers can be found on Twitter @NoahPowersShwk. Any tips or suggestions should be forwarded via email to [email protected].