By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
COUNTRY CLUB - Missouri Western sophomore Allycia Gan started the season with one goal - making the national championship.
Entering the final round of the Division II Women's Golf Central Regional at St. Joseph Country Club Wednesday, she was only four strokes off the lead. Suddenly, her goal became winning the regional tournament.
Gan put pressure on herself, and struggled on the front nine.
"She wanted to win so bad," Missouri Western grad assistant golf coach Wendy Monfort said. "I think she put a lot of pressure on herself and started overthinking every shot. She didn't go for it as much. Was trying to make pars rather than birdies like the last couple of days."
Gan shot a seven-over par 43 on the front nine, including a triple bogey on 8 and bogeys on 2, 3, 4 and 9.
After no birdies through the first 10 holes, Gan knew she had to calm down.
"I went to the bathroom after 9," Gan said. "I washed my face and kept myself awake. I kept running to the bathroom to wash my face, and thank God my back nine saved my...saved my ass."
Gan battled back with a one-under 35 on the back nine, including birdies on 11 and 17 to finish second overall and qualify for the NCAA National Championship next week in Detroit.
The birdie on 11, a near ace on a par 3, was the hole that turned the day around for Gan. She bogeyed only once on the back nine.
"The priority is national," Gan said. "Just getting to national. That's what we want. This is my first year, and that's good enough for me. I told myself, I have to make my teammates proud and make myself proud."
This will be the fifth straight NCAA National Championship that a Griffon women's golfer will be competing in.
"This was my first goal in this year - I wanted to make the national," Gan said. "No matter how I made it, I just wanted to make it to national. And I made it. Thank God."
Gan finished the week with a three-round total of 7-over 223.
This was the first NCAA Regional for Gan since the season was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
The first season coming off that cancelation had its challenges, but Monfort is glad to see her team's best player get to the big stage in the end.
"I think it's going to be a really great thing for next year that she made it to nationals," Monfort said. "Hopefully, it'll motivate the others to do the same next year. It was a tough season, but in the end, it's going to be a good thing for (Gan) next year."
Roger State's Jessica Green won the tournament with a 1-under par 215 - eight shots ahead of Gan. Katie Whitfield of Arkansas Tech finished third with a 10-over 226 - three shots behind Gan.
Arkansas Tech won the team title with a three-round total of 919, while Rogers State (924) and Northeastern State (936) also qualified the for the national championship as a team. Henderson State (937) and Central Missouri (937) tied for fourth.
The NCAA Division II National Championship starts next Tuesday, May 11 at TPC Michigan in Detroit and will wrap up on Saturday, May 15.
