<lass="page layoutArea column" title="Page 1">
In a season full of highlights, records and victories, Geraldine Tellbuescher (So./Ashiya, Japan/Canadian Academy) provided the most impressive one of all.
The sophomore played a near-perfect round, posting a bogey-free, three-under par 69, erasing an 11-shot deficit to garner her first individual collegiate victory at the UW-Eau Claire Spring Invitational. She tied for first with McKenzie Parks of Carthage, but Tellbuescher was awarded the first-place trophy based on the tiebreaker of final-round score.
Her effort helped propel the Knights to a final-round 305, good enough to rally for a 12-shot victory at 627. It marked Carleton’s sixth victory in eight tournaments this season. The Knights outlasted Gustavus (639) and Carthage (645), while the host Blugolds and Wartburg (647) tied for fourth. Carthage and Wartburg are headed to the NCAA Championships with Carleton, as all three teams won its respective conference tournaments in the fall, earning an automatic bid to the national tournament.
Tellbuescher started strong, making the first of her three birdies on the par-4 second hole. She turned in one-under par and added a birdie on the par-4 tenth hole. Needing one more birdie to break the magical 70 mark, she rolled in a 25-foot, downhill breaking putt on the par-3 17th hole. She faced the toughest hole on the course to finish, knocking a 135-yard eight-iron over the water hazard fronting the green, then two-putting from inside 20 feet to close the round.
Her stats were amazing: 13 of 14 fairways hit, 13 of 18 greens in regulation and only 28 putts. Her strokes gained putting were equal to that of a PGA Tour player, as she didn’t miss a single putt inside eight feet while only having one putt outside 20 feet. She converted that one into the birdie on 17.
“It was truly an amazing round by Geraldine,” Carleton head coach Eric Sieger. “It’s not often that everything comes together in one round like that, and for her to sustain that for the entire 18 holes was impressive.”
“With all that said, I knew she was playing well but I had no idea she was taking it that low,” Sieger said. “It’s a testament to Geraldine’s demeanor on the course that you can’t tell whether she’s shooting 85 or 69.”
Grace Gilmore (Jr./Edina, Minn.) added rounds of 80 and 77, as the event’s defending individual champion ended in a tie for fifth. Shannon Holden (So./Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) also finished inside the top 10, tallying rounds of 80 and 79 to end T8th. Taylor Wells (Sr./Rochester, Minn./Century) added rounds of 81 and 80, while Kelsey Moede (Sr./Lake Oswego, Ore.) posted 81-81.
“It was a very good weekend for us,” Sieger said. “The victory gives us great momentum heading into nationals, but more importantly we struck the ball well all weekend. We need to clean up some things from 100 yards and in, but overall I think the players feel good about their games and that we’re peaking at the right time.”
The Knights will make their first NCAA Championships appearance when they compete at Mission Inn’s El Campéon course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., May 12-15.