Jaime Jacob Crowned NCAA Division II Individual Champion
Complete results
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Back-to-back CCAA Golfer of the Year Jaime Jacob is going to need a bigger trophy case. Jacob, a junior for Cal State San Marcos, is the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf National Champion.
The individual NCAA Division II title is the first for a Cougar, and now Cal State San Marcos will compete in the match play portion of the Championships to determine a team victor.
The Encinitas native played her way to a tie for first after the second round from the Champions Course at PGA National. She was the leader in the clubhouse early in the day after firing a final-round 75 and waiting for the rest of the field to roll in. She fired a tournament total even-par 219 after standing as the only woman to card back-to-back under-par rounds heading into the final 18.
Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Gloria Choi held a three-stroke lead with three holes to play after posting a birdie on the 15th. Choi followed that up with a double bogey on the par-4 16th to slice the advantage to one. On the 17th, a 131-yard par 3, Choi again found trouble and carded a double bogey to slip to second. The 18th, a hole which the Bulldog had birdied in the two previous rounds was parred, and Jacob earned the individual victory, her third of her junior campaign on the biggest of stages.
“Just seeing Jaime’s reaction a few minutes ago was pretty special,”
remarked coach Jennifer Johnson on Twitter after the championship-winning performance. “We just all wanted her to pull it out and I’m glad it went in her favor. I think the girls are just super pumped for tomorrow and we have a lot of golf ahead, so I think we need to just realize that we’re starting fresh tomorrow; just take it one hole, one match at a time and hopefully Saturday we are where we want to be.”
As a team, the Cougars closed with a tally of 22-over 927 to land in second on the team leaderboard, trailing Florida Tech by four strokes. Cal State San Marcos recorded 34 birdies in the three days of stroke play, a tournament-best. The Cougars played the Par 3’s to a 3.22 strokes per hole average, also leading the field.
Individually, Jacob carded 14 birdies over the three days of competition, with Choi right behind with 13, proving to be the difference in the final scores. Along with Jacob’s championship performance, freshman Breann Horn closed in 21st, up 13 places in the final round, and Day 1 leader Claire Hogle landed in a four-way tie for 28th.
Now, the No. 2 seed in the eight-team match play bracket, Cal State San Marcos will face off against No. 7 Dallas Baptist in the quarterfinals. The two are set to take to the course Friday beginning at 8:20 a.m. ET/ 5:20 a.m. PT.