Live Results / Columbus Regional Site / NCAA Women's Golf / 2016-17 Season Stats
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's golf team is set for NCAA play, heading to the Columbus Regional at the Scarlet Course at the Ohio State Golf Club from Monday to Wednesday. The 54-hole event will decide a quarter of the field at the 2017 NCAA Championships, set to begin May 19 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
The Boilermakers are the No. 7 seed in Columbus, where six teams and the top-three individuals (not on an advancing team) will clinch spots to the national championships. This year's qualification marks the 20th time in the last 21 seasons the Boilermakers have earned a spot in the regional field, advancing to the NCAA Championships on 16 occasions. Purdue won the 2010 NCAA Championship, taking second in 2007 and 2011 and third in 2013, while Maria Hernandez claimed the individual NCAA crown in 2009.
Senior August Kim aims to put the finishing touches on an outstanding Purdue career and an impressive final season, as she leads the Boilermakers with a 72.24 stroke average and seven top-10 tournament showings this season. She's a two-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree and qualified for the NCAA Championships individually last season, placing ninth at the Shoal Creek Regional in Alabama at nine-over, 225.
The only other Boilermakers on the regional roster with NCAA experience are junior Marta Martin and sophomore Covadonga SanJuan. Martin helped the Boilermakers to the 2015 NCAA Championships with a score of 10-over, 226, at the South Bend Regional her freshman year, while SanJuan played in the Shoal Creek Regional in 2016. Both sophomore Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri and freshman Micaela Farah will be making their first NCAA appearances.
The Boilermakers have the earliest tee time Monday, paired with familiar opponents Ohio State and Michigan in the opening round set for a 7:30 a.m. ET start. Tuesday and Wednesday's tee times will be set based on tournament standings at the end of each round, but will range between 7:30 and 9:09 a.m.
THE FIELD
The Columbus Regional features an outstanding field, headlined by top seeds Florida and Florida State and SEC standouts South Carolina and Arkansas. Colorado and Texas A&M round out the top-six seeds, while Purdue is the first of four Big Ten teams to head to Columbus, joined by the host Buckeyes, Michigan and Wisconsin. The field includes several outstanding players, including South Carolina's No. 9 Katelyn Dambaugh, Florida's 10th-ranked Maria Torres, Texas A&M's No. 12 Maddie Szeryk and Florida State's No. 14 Matilda Castren. Purdue senior August Kim is the fifth-highest ranked individual heading to Columbus, entering the tournament at No. 19.
| Team (seed) | GolfWeek | GolfStat |
| Florida (1) | 6 | 4 |
| Florida State (2) | 5 | 5 |
| South Carolina (3) | 14 | 12 |
| Arkansas (4) | 13 | 13 |
| Colorado (5) | 21 | 20 |
| Texas A&M (6) | 20 | 21 |
| Purdue (7) | 38 | 27 |
| Ohio State (8) | 26 | 29 |
| Michigan (9) | 36 | 33 |
| San Jose State (10) | 34 | 37 |
| Houston (11) | 44 | 44 |
| Louisville (12) | 47 | 46 |
| Wisconsin (13) | 48 | 52 |
| Kentucky (14) | 52 | 54 |
| Old Dominion (15) | 64 | 62 |
| Deleware (16) | 118 | 116 |
| Missouri State (17) | 166 | 168 |
| Cleveland State (18) | 219 | 214 |
THE COURSE: Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University Golf Club
The Buckeye's Scarlet Course is set to play 6,416 yards at par 72, and will be the longest course the Boilermakers have played this season. The Scarlet Course was renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 2006, and the OSU Golf Club has played host to the Kepler, Lady Buckeye, AJGA, OHSAA Division I state high school championship and, most notably, the WEB.com Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. Purdue last played the Scarlet Course in 2014, taking fourth place at 45-over, 909.
AT THIS EVENT
With their 2017 bid, Purdue has played at the NCAA Regional Championship as a team in 19 of the last 21 seasons, starting the run in 1997. The Boilermakers have advanced to the national championships on 16 occasions, earning their first bid in 2000, and winning the regional crown in 2006, and finishing second in 2000, 2008, 2009 and 2013. The best 54-hole individual score in program history came at the 2013 NCAA West Regional as Paula Reto posted a 10-under, 71-69-66=206, to earn medalist honors.
THE PLAYERS (Season Stats)
| PLAYER | HOMETOWN | RDS. | AVG. | TOP 10 | LOW 18 | LOW 54 |
| Micaela Farah | Lima, Peru | 16 | 75.1 | 0 | 70 | 219 |
| August Kim | St. Augustine, Fla. | 25 | 72.2 | 7 | 68 | 210 |
| Marta Martin | Madrid, Spain | 25 | 75.8 | 1 | 71 | 217 |
| Melati Putri | Denpasar, Bali | 18 | 75.6 | 1 | 71 | 214 |
| Cova SanJuan | Aviles, Spain | 22 | 74.7 | 1 | 69 | 218 |
#BOILERNOTES
- The Boilermakers put three players on the 2017 All-Big Ten teams as senior August Kim and freshman Micaela Farah earned first-team honors and sophomore Cova SanJuan grabbed a second-team award
- Kim is the 13th player in program history to earn at least two First Team All-Big Ten honors in her career
- Kim's 72.24 stroke average this season is currently the second-best single-season average in program history, trailing only Maria Hernandez's mark from 2007-08 of 71.4
- Kim was been named Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week twice this spring, earning the honor in back-to-back weeks after a third-place effort at the 3M Augusta Invitational and medalist honors at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate
- Kim has shot a season-best 68 on two occasions this season, both tied for the 22nd-best round in program history
- Kim has played 64 percent of her tournament rounds at par or better this season, good for a team-high 16 rounds at the mark
- Kim owns the Boilermakers' only two eagles of the season
- Kim advanced to Stage III of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall, one-of-11 amateurs to reach the final stage
- SanJuan and Farah posted consecutive top-20 individual finishes at the 3M Augusta Invitational and the Henssler Intercollegiate, with SanJuan posting fifth and 12th-place showings, and Farah placing 11th and 14th
- SanJuan was the Boilermakers' top finisher in two straight tournaments, shooting four-over, 220, and tying for 16th at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic and posting a two-over, 218, to tie for 18th at The Dickson in Houston
- Farah is the first Purdue freshman to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors since Laura Gonzalez Escallon in 2013, and the sixth freshman in program history to secure the award
- Farah has turned in a qualifying team score in each of her first 16 rounds as a Boilermaker, including a career-best 70 in the opening round at the 3M Augusta Invitational
- Sophomore Melati Putri is back in the lineup for the second straight tournament after sitting out back-to-back events to close the regular season and not playing in the five-player lineup since late February
- The Boilermakers placed two individuals in the top-10 of four of eight stroke-play tournaments this season, including three straight in the fall and the 3M Augusta Invitational
- Purdue has won a pair of tournaments this season, taking the season-opening Minnesota Invitational and earning the team title at Augusta with a 54-hole score of 14-over, 878
- The Boilermakers matched the eighth-best 18-hole team score in program history at The Dickson, shooting a six-under, 282, in the opening round
- The Boilermakers are 4-2 in match play this season, going 3-0 at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and taking fourth place at the Gifford Great 8 Match Play, hosted by UCLA, in Purdue's only other match-play event of the year
- Purdue has four players currently on the LPGA Tour, including tour rookie Laura Gonzalez Escallon who tied for eighth at the 2017 season-opening LPGA Pure Silk Bahamas event, and Maude-Aimee Leblanc who tied for seventh at the 2017 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open