WEST LAFAYETTE − It was that nasty Midwest weather when winter and spring and essentially overlapping that may have saved Purdue women’s golf’s season.
The Boilermakers finished eighth out of 16 teams in their own invitational, one they expected to win in early April, then finished 11th in the Big Ten Championships two weeks later.
The 10 days between the Big Ten meet in Maryland and Purdue’s departure for the NCAA Regional in Lubbock, Texas, provided a chance to get in some much needed practice rounds.
Only the weather didn’t cooperate.
“We had some pretty ugly weather in that stretch and I think they probably hated me for being on the golf course,” Purdue coach Zach Byrd said. “The second round (of the NCAA Regional) was that same sort of weather and it was when we honestly flipped. It was when all the teams were going the wrong direction.”
In tumultuous weather at The Rawls Course, the Boilermakers thrived. Then a day later faltered on the greens, only to thrive again and beat Texas A&M in a playoff that advanced Purdue to the NCAA Championships starting Friday at La Costa Omni Resort and Spa just north of San Diego.
Total Team Effort
-3 in the final round, and -2 in the playoff. All 5 playing their best golf on the last day…Clutch Boilers! pic.twitter.com/HG8wIZkI1r
The story of Purdue’s season summed up in one tournament where talent and poise finally blended together throughout the lineup.
“Everyone has a lot of talent. Everyone can play good golf,” senior Momo Sugiyama said. “So it was just a matter of being able to play our own game and I think that’s what we were able to do.”
Once Purdue, which just a few hours before its regional playoff was expecting to be departing for the hotel to pack up and return to West Lafayette with its season over, got into the playoff, it was Sugiyama who rallied the Boilermakers with an emotional speech.
The Boilermakers traditionally are a women’s golf powerhouse, with Olympians, professionals, an NCAA individual medalist and a 2010 national championship to back up the claim, are now back in the season’s final tournament with three who’ve played the course just one year ago on the same stage.
To get there this time, though, Purdue had to endure not only the rigors of unpredictable weather, but also a pipe bursting in December that rendered the team’s indoor practice facility useless for months.
“I can assure you we were the only team in the country that wasn’t chipping and putting,” Byrd said.
That may have led to Purdue’s less than desirable results.
That is, until just last week.
“Something we’ve said all year is we practiced and played and qualified in probably some of the hardest conditions that we’ve done all year. It’s been an incredibly windy spring,” senior Natasha Kiel said. “We’ve had a couple tournaments where we’ve had practice rounds canceled. We’ve had rounds moved around and canceled. And we’ve played in a lot of wind and rain.
“Having those tough conditions in regionals was honestly, like, perfect for us. We loved it.”
The Boilermakers, based on regular season and conference performance, weren’t expected to be playing in the NCAA Championships.
But talent wise, it’s no surprise Purdue is in the field.
Now the Boilers are playing with house money. And maybe playing their best golf at the right time.
“What we did at regionals is a great stepping stone for us going to nationals,” senior Jocelyn Bruch said. “We just put our heads down and focused on the process. If we do that at nationals, I definitely think we can do big things there, too.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: A pipe burst nearly derailed Purdue women’s golf’s season. Unpredictable weather saved it
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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