After starting the 2016-17 season with a bottom-third finish in its first fall tournament, the NC State women’s golf team improved significantly throughout the season, earning a first-place finish in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic to start the spring semester. The Pack ended the season ranked No. 20 in the GolfWeek Rankings.
This season will bring its challenges for the Pack. State is losing Sarah Bae who helped the Wolfpack tremendously in the 2016-17 season. Bae was the second-best performer in the Pack last season and also had a big performance at NCAA Regionals, where she tied for 18th.
A key returner who also had a hand in the Wolfpack’s success is junior India Clyburn. Clyburn and Bae seemed to take turns to see who would come out on top for the Pack in the majority of the Pack’s tournaments last season.
Clyburn finished first for State in six of the team’s 10 appearances. Her highest finish came during a match against Hawaii, where she received first place after shooting five under par. Clyburn also finished in the top 50 of the final NCAA individual rankings after a 72.6 stroke average, the single-season record for NC State.
Junior Naomi Ko will also be a factor for NC State, as she participated in the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Chula Vista, California, after earning an exemption sixth-place for the 2016 World Amateur Championship. Ko’s appearance marks the fourth time in the last five years that State has had a player qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The Pack will return to a number of tournaments that it has previously competed in this season, as well as adding some new venues to its schedule. NC State will participate in eight tournaments across four states, and will also have its annual trip to Puerto Rico for the Lady Puerto Rico Classic.
The fall schedule includes trips to South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as tournaments in North Carolina against UNC-Chapel Hill in the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational and in Wilmington at the Landfall Tradition.
Much like the fall schedule, the spring semester will bring more trips abroad for the Pack, starting with the Lady Puerto Rico Classic and ending the regular season with a return to the Bryan National Collegiate in Browns Summit, North Carolina.
