CARLSBAD, Calif. — Northwestern won their first NCAA women’s golf title on Wednesday when Diana Lee beat Andrea Revelta with a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole to beat Andrea Revelta to a 3-2 victory at top-seeded Stanford, who finished the last hour of top-seededness.
Stanford made progress through stroke play in record scores to win 27 shots, winning their first NCAA title in four years and becoming the first team to become a back-to-back team since the 2017 match game.
Instead, the Wildcats were yelling happily at La Costa when Lee, who had twice before missing out on a putt to win, delivered the biggest putt of her life.
“I believe this group thought they could do that more than people did something they didn’t think you could,” Northwestern coach Emily Fletcher said.
Stanford junior megaguns won five and four in the lead match, while Northwestern’s Hsin Tai Lin recorded three and two wins.
Laura Nguyen put the Wildcats on the title crisis with a 7-foot birdie putt with a single victory over Paula Martin Sampedro.
As a result, the Northwest needed another point from either Diana Lee, who was three up on five holes playing five holes, and Elise Lee, who first led Stanford’s Kelly XU on hole 15.
Stanford did not descend without a fight.
After missing a 4-foot putt for the first time, Xu regained control with a par 3-foot birdie on the 16th and a wedge up to 10 feet for a birdie on the 17th. They halved the 18th hole, giving Xu a one-up victory, tied the team score by two all.
It’s back to the final match that Diana Lee once held firmly in her grasp. Revuelta bogeyed 11 and 12 holes and beat three holes on five holes, but she won with the 14th hole and went inside one with a 15-foot birdie putt.
Lee was in the back bunker, blowing up to 7 feet and missing her par putt on the 16th. However, Revuelta stayed one by one, pulling her 4-foot putts. On the next hole, Lee had a 12-foot birdie putt to win the match, pulled it and ran nearly five feet. I missed it and the match was all square. She stopped it and kept one to go on the 18th.
The par-5 closing hole is equivalent to a wedge contest with a stream that protects greenery. Both players were about 18 feet. Lee’s difficult putt spun from his left lip and ran five feet. Revuelta shortened her downhill putt and set Lee at 5 feet for the victory.
This time she made it, and celebrated in the Northwest, reaching the final before losing to Arizona State in 2017.
