Minnesota Golf: Another Tournament Another Record for the Gopher Women

If you are looking for the sneaky best story of the fall for the Minnesota Gophers so far, look no farther than the Gophers women’s golf team. A week after Luisamariana Mesones set the Minnesota single round record with an eight under par 64, she decided to one up herself. In the third round of the Evie Odom Invitational hosted by Old Dominion on Sunday, Mesones equaled the Gophers all time best round of eight under par, but this time with a 62 on the par 70 course!

Through the first two rounds of the tournament the Gophers were in 8th place ten shots back of the College of Charleston. Mesones had bounced back from a first round 73 to shoot 68 in round two.

That set up the best round in the history of the Gopher women’s team. Minnesota would shoot an incredible -15 as a team in Sunday’s third and final round with all five players shooting under par. It is the first time in program history all five players went under par in a round, and the team score of 263 (-15) is the best single round score in team history. That would be enough to shoot the Gophers up the leaderboard to a second place finish in the tournament, just two shots back of COC.

Once Mesones got into a zone on Sunday, it was impressive to watch. She made 8 birdies in her round including on holes 14 through 18. She now has set the course record in back to back tournaments. Her 62 was good enough to move her up the leaderboard into her second consecutive second place individual finish shooting 203 (-7) for the tournament. It was six shots better than her second place finish last week which earner her her first Big Ten Golfer of the Week honor.

It wasn't just Mesones who went low on Sunday. The other freshman phenom on the Gophers roster Isabella McCauley would shoot a 63 for a -7 day. It was her career best round. She recorded seven birdies on the front nine and ended the tournament in fifth place with a score of 207 (-3).

The Gophers trio of seniors also snuck under par. Emma Carpenter shot 69 on Sunday and ended the tournament in a tie for 14th place with a score of 214 (+4). Grace Curran shot the high score for the Gophers on Sunday with an even par 70 finishing the tournament in a tie for 53rd place. Leah Herzog also went under par shooting 69 (-1) om Sunday to bounce back from a rough 82 in the opening round.

After a week off the Gophers return to action at the Sunflower Invitational in Lawrence, Kan. from Oct. 17 – Oct. 18 for their final fall tournament of 2022.