It took until the final round, but Kelowna’s Megan Osland did her part to boost the San Jose State women’s golf team into the NCAA Div. 1 national championship later this month.
After shooting 77-78 over the first two days, Osland rebounded to card a solid two-under par 69 in the third round of the NCAA west regional championship at Stanford to finish 50th overall at 224.
More importantly, it helped SJS jump from 15th place to sixth spot out of 24 teams, good enough to secure a spot at nationals. The Spartans finished better than 10 teams ranked in the top-50 to earn a berth to the NCAA championships May 21 to 24 in Athens, Georgia.
Osland started her round solidly with birdies on her first two holes and followed that with nine pars before a birdie on No. 12 sent her to three-under. A bogey on No. 14 and four straight pars gave Osland a 69.
“I had a different focus compared to the last two days,” said Osland. “I was a lot calmer on the course and focused on every shot. I hit a lot of greens and fairways today, something I had not been doing in the other two rounds. The early birdies helped me, and my putts started dropping.
“I am really proud of the team,” Osland added. “We went out there today with nothing to lose, pulled together and played the way we know how. We have been grinding it out all year, and we are so happy.”
The final round was Osland’s fourth under-par round this season including, the second this spring semester at the Stanford Golf Course where she shot a 68 at the Peg Barnard Invititaional in February.
Osland will spend this week writing final exams at San Jose State before the Spartans team leaves Saturday for nationals.
