HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — Sophomore Katherine Lemke entered the day with a two-shot lead and never looked back, becoming the first women’s golfer in league history to win back-to-back BIG EAST Championships as Creighton took third place overall.
The third-place finish for Creighton (328-291-299=918) matched the 2021 performance for its best team showing ever. Xavier (304-303-286=893) claimed a 15-shot victory for its unprecedented fourth straight team title, with Georgetown (317-302-289=908) taking second.
On the heels of her school and BIG EAST Championship record round of 67 on Tuesday, Lemke birdied three of her first eight holes (2, 7, 8) and made the turn in 34. Lemke bogeyed the 9th and 10th holes before steadying herself by playing the next six holes at par. Lemke owned a five shot lead heading into the final hole but found the water on her approach shot on 18 to end with a one-over 73. Her margin of victory ended up being two shots over Georgetown’s Gabriella Gilrowski, who birdied the last hole and was also in Lemke’s group.
Lemke is just the second player in BIG EAST history to win multiple league titles, joining Georgetown’s Jacquelyn Eleey (2015, 2018). By virtue of finishing in the top-five, Lemke also landed on the All-Tournament Team for the second straight season. Lemke led the field in par 3 scoring (-2) and par 5 scoring (-5) in the tournament.
The victory clinches a second straight berth in the NCAA Regionals for Lemke, who remains the only women’s golfer in program history to play in the postseason. The destinations for the 72 teams and 36 individuals to qualify for the NCAA Championships will be announced on April 26 at Noon Central on The Golf Channel. Last year Lemke placed 58th in the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional. Xavier also clinched a spot thanks to its team title.
Senior Katie Allen (87-76-75=238) shot a 75 in her Creighton-record 118th round of her career. The Phoenix, Ariz., native owned a 77.72 career scoring average with 13 top-10 finishes in 40 career events, including a title in September of 2019 at the Loyola Fall Invitational. Allen’s eight career rounds under par are tied with Lemke for the Bluejay record.
Junior Gabby Tremblay (81-80-75=236) turned in her best round of the week to move up to a tie for 13th place. Sophomore Eleanor Hudepohl (85-75-76=234) also finished tied for 13th after closing with a 76, which included a pair of birdies.
Freshman Annika Yturralde (83-73-81=237) moved into the top 10 for a while on Wednesday and closed the tournament in a tie for 16th place.
The event was held at the Par 72 Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club, which measured 6,090 yards. Six teams and 33 players participated in the event.
More to come…
A multi-lingual talent head, Allen is fluent in languages such as Spanish, Russian, Italian, and many more. He has a special curiosity for the events and stories revolving in and around US and caters an uncompromising form of journalistic standard for the audiences.