Minnesota Women’s Golf: Isabella McCauley Wins Boilermaker Classic

The first tournament of the season was a great one for the undisputed star of the Minnesota Gophers women’s golf team. Sophomore Isabella McCauley from Inver Grove, Heights, MN won the Boilermaker Classic held this past week by shooting a -12 for the 54-hole tournament to take home the individual championship honors. The Gophers as a team would finish in third place.

McCauley ended the season on a roll for the Gophers in the spring, then qualified for the Us Women’s Amateur Championship this summer. She looked in great form as she opened up with 36 holes on Monday shooting a -5 67 in her opening 18 and following that with a -4 68 to give her the 36-hole lead at -9. She led by three strokes headed into the final 18 holes that were played on Tuesday on the Kampen-Cosler Course in West Lafayette.

Tuesday would be more of the same as she cruised to a -3 69 and a three shot win over Purdue’s Kan Bunnabodee.

McCauley is the first Gopher woman to win an individual tournament since 2015. This is her first collegiate career win, doing so in her 13th tournament. She set a new personal best by five strokes in a tournament as well.

The Gophers as a team shot three straight rounds of even par to finish in third place, 12 shots back of first place Purdue, and six back of second place Alabama.

Minnesota introduced three new players into their lineup—two transfers and a freshman. Hailey Loh came to Minnesota from Cal Baptist and shot three consecutive rounds of 73 (+1). She earned a top-20 finish leaving the Boilermaker Classic in a tie for 17th. Freshman Sara Tomaszewski played her first tournament as a Gopher at +5 bouncing back from an opening round 77 to card a pair of even par 72’s in the second and third rounds to finish in 22nd place. Duke transfer Megan Furtney improved by a shot in each round going 76-75-74 for a +9 finish and a tied for 37th place. Senior Emma Carpenter started her tournament off on the wrong foot when she broke her driver early in round one and struggled to a 60th place finish. Fellow senior Grace Curran played as an independent and finished at +8 on the tournament.

The Gophers return home for the marquis event on their schedule the Annika Open held at The Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo Monday through Wednesday. The Annika always attracts a very strong field and should be a great showcase of women’s collegiate golf once again.