Emory women's golf team 2021-22

This story originally appeared in Emory News Center

Following a dominating four-day stretch in Houston, the Emory University women's golf team captured the first-ever national championship in program history. The newest varsity sport at Emory, the team launched in fall 2019.

The Eagles shot under 300 all four days of the competition on their way to shattering the NCAA Division III championship record for a four-round team total. After posting round totals of 291, 296 and 292, the women concluded the final round with a score of 296 to bring their total to a 23-over par 1175, nearly 40 strokes lower than the previous record and 24 strokes better in relation to par.

The University of Redlands finished in second place at this year's championship, 26 strokes behind Emory. It is the largest margin of victory at the NCAA DIII women's golf championships since 2013.

The national championship is the 31st in the history of the Emory Athletics department and the second this academic year, joining men's swimming and diving, which won the NCAA DIII title back in March in similar dominating fashion.

The Eagles were paced by first-year student Ellen Dong, who captured the individual national championship, winning the tournament in a one-hole playoff against George Fox University's Alison Takamiya. Both players established four-day NCAA Championship tournament records, carding four-day totals of 289. Dong won the playoff with a birdie to join former men's golfer Lee Palms (1991) as the only individual golf champions in Emory’s history.

To go along with Dong, first-year student Sharon Mun and sophomore Irene Wang finished inside the top-20 overall, with Mun tying for 11th at 294 and Wang closing with a team-best 73 on Friday to tie for 17th place at 298. First-year Heejo Hyun finished 14 strokes back of the lead in a tie for 28th while sophomore Mariana Chong tied for 30th with a 16-over par 304.

Men’s golf team places fifth

In other golf action, the Emory men’s team finished fifth in the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships. It is the team’s best finish since taking fourth at the 2013 championships.

The Eagles closed out the four-day championship with their best performance of the week, totaling a three-over 291 to bring their four-day championship total to 1,188 (296-303-298-291). Methodist University was crowned the team champion.

Emory sophomore Jackson Klutznick and senior Davis Hingtgen finished at even par Friday, shooting 72 across their 18 holes. Klutznick and senior Logan Ryan tied atop the Emory leaderboard at +11 with 298 for the four days and tied for 23rd overall on the player leaderboard. Three other players also placed in the top 40: Hingtgen in a tie for 30th, followed by senior Max Schwarz in 35th and freshman Tony Li in 37th.

 

Read more about Emory Women's Golf:
2021-22 Emory Women's Golf news
Emory adds women's golf as intercollegiate sport