What a season it has been for the DU women’s golfers as they secured their second straight Sun Belt Conference championship and sophomore Emily Hoeper captured her first personal conference title.
With the conference title, the Pioneers advance to the NCAA regionals for the fourth straight year.
This year’s west regional is being held in Las Cruces, N.M., hosted by New Mexico State University.
The Pioneers shot a 54-hole total of 922, 58-over par, at the PGA course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. last week, defeating runner-up New Mexico State by two strokes.
The Pioneers led by one shot after day one and then fell behind Florida International University by five strokes after day two.
On the final day of competition, the team re-grouped and rallied behind season-long leader Hoeper and shot a 308 to win the title.
The sophomore shot a 77 on day one followed by a one-over 73 on both the second and final day of the tournament.
Her three day performance placed her in a tie with Arkansas-Little Rock’s Sheridan Graham. Hoeper then went on to win the sudden death playoff on the fifth hole along with her first title.
Senior Jennie Peek shot a three-day total of 230 to finish in fifth place and senior Tessa Gillam shot 238. Junior Kari Broshko fired a 240 and senior Jodi Daley finished things up for the champs with a 243.
Denver will open the west regional in New Mexico on May 5 and will finish up May 7.
The top eight teams out of the 21 team field qualify for the NCAA nationals in Oregon.
Last year, the Pioneers had their best finish ever with an 11th-place finish, just two strokes away from a tie for eighth.
This season, with all veterans on the squad, Denver is looking to qualify for its first ever NCAA national championships.
DU will compete against such schools as UCLA, Georgia, USC, Tennessee and Stanford on the NMSU course.
It has been a season that many people may not have expected, or even know about, but the Pioneers are looking to continue their winning ways and make the cut to qualify for the NCAA national championships.
