Following a dominating four-day stretch in Houston, the Emory University women's golf team captured the first-ever national championship in program history!
The Eagles shot under 300 all four days of the competition on their way to shattering the NCAA Division III championship record for a four-round team total. After posting round totals of 291, 296 and 292, the women concluded the final round with a score of 296 to bring their total to a 23-over par 1175, nearly 40 strokes lower than the previous record and 24 strokes better in relation to par. The previous strokes record was held by Methodist (1,214) established in 2001 and the previous low score in relation to par was back in 2007 when Methodist won with a 47-over 1,215.
The University of Redlands finished in second place at this year's championship 26 strokes back of the Eagles with George Fox University taking third 28 strokes behind. It is the largest margin of victory at the NCAA DIII women's golf championships since 2013.
The national championship is the 31st in the history of the Emory Athletics department and the second this academic calendar, joining men's swimming & diving who won back in March in similar dominating fashion.
The Eagles were paced by freshman Ellen Dong who captured the individual national championship, winning the tournament in a one-hole playoff against George Fox's Alison Takamiya. Both players established four-day NCAA Championship tournament records, carding four-day totals of 289. Dong won the playoff with a birdie to join former men's golfer Lee Palms (1991) as the only individual golf champions in school history.
To go along with Dong, freshman Sharon Mun and sophomore Irene Wang finished inside the top-20 overall with Mun tying for 11th at 294 with Wang closing with a team-best 73 on Friday to place tied for 17th at 298.
Freshman Heejo Hyun finished 14 strokes back of the lead in a tie for 28th while sophomore Mariana Chong tied for 30th with a 16-over par 304.
