SAN FRANCISCO - Hitting the course for the final time as a collegian, senior
Alivia Brown put the finishing touches on a stellar career with a two-over, 74, on the final day of play at the NCAA Regional in San Francisco. Overall, the Gig Harbor native finished her three-day event in a tie for 48th place after posting a 222, +6.Â
Making her third trip around the course at TPC Harding Park, Brown has a relatively quiet day as she smoothly made her way through the front-nine at just one-over par. Navigating a tough early stretch that tripped her up the first two days, Brown came out of the gate with five-consecutive pars before a missed opportunity on the par-4, sixth hole, dropped her one-stroke off the pace. With no issues to the turn, Brown headed to the back-nine with a 37 on her card for the front.
Jumping on the par-5, 10th, Brown recovered her lost stoke with a birdie-four to get her back to even for the day. The birdie on the 10th was her first of the week on the 535-yard hole and seventh of the tournament. A costly miss on 13 would drop Brown back to one-over par for the day before a bogey on 15 brought her total to two-over. The par-4, 15th, proved to be a tough hole for Brown throughout the week as she played the hole two-over during the last two days of action. Despite the bogey, Brown would finish out the round just as she started it, rolling in par putts on the final three holes to close with a 37 on the back and a 74 overall.Â
In all, Brown finished her senior season with a program-record stroke average of 72.79, shattering her own record by nearly a full stroke. In addition to her season scoring record, Brown set the Cougars all-time mark with a 73.79 career scoring average, over a full stroke better than the previous record held by Kim Welch. Brown finished her illustrious career as the only Cougar to ever make multiple NCAA Regionals as an individual, playing in three postseasons in four years including a trip to the NCAA Championships in 2015 as a freshman.
Individually, Patty Tavatanakit (UCLA) took the regional title while No. 5 Stanford grabbed the team victory. With the win, Stanford heads to the NCAA Championships along with No. 1 UCLA, No. 40 Ole Miss, No. 32 Louisville, No. 16 Kent State, and No. 26 Colorado. Individually, Marthe Wold (Cal), Hira Naveed (Pepperdine), and Emma Broze (Oklahoma State) each came up with three-day totals to earn a spot in Stillwater, Okla. for the championships.