Thursday, April 21
Pine Mountain, Ga. (Callaway Gardens)
TBA
Creighton University
vs
BIG EAST Championship
Katherine Lemke
Photo by: Jerry Ballas
Lemke Wins BIG EAST Championship As Women's Golf Places Fourth
4/23/2022 4:23:00 PM | Women's Golf
Bluejay freshman is CU's first individual BIG EAST champion
PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Creighton freshman Katherine Lemke sank a 20-foot putt to birdie the first playoff hole and win medalist honors at the BIG EAST Championships on Saturday, April 23
Lemke became Creighton's first individual champion in any sport since joining the BIG EAST in 2013 and earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, which will be held May 9-11 at six sites nationally. Lemke is the first freshman to win the BIG EAST Championships since Georgetown's Jacquelyn Eleey in 2015.
"I'm really excited," said Lemke. "It's kind of a dream. I didn't think it was possible coming into the season. It was ultimately a goal of my college career but I didn't think it would happen so soon."
Lemke won a playoff against the Xavier duo of Abby Kiefer and Emma McMyler when she birdied the first playoff hole (No. 18) and both Musketeers earned a par on the 369-yard closing hole. After a drive down the middle of the fairway left her approximately 100 yards away, Lemke used her 50-degree wedge to find the green in regulation. Faced with a 20-foot downhill putt with a left-to-right break, Lemke was aggressive and rolled it in.
Lemke's birdie was especially gratifying after she had bogeyed same hole on Thursday, the only blemish in her round of 69 that left her tied for first with Kiefer and McMyler. The putt didn't officially clinch a victory until McMyler was unable to connect on a putt similar to what Lemke had drained moments earlier.
Lemke was quick to credit her success last week at Stampede at the Creek, where she finished as a runner-up. "Last week gave me so much confidence. It had been a struggle in the spring season when I got off to slow start. I had practiced well and hit it great on the range so to get out to Indian Creek showed that practice paid off and I was getting better. I was in a much better mindset coming into tournament this week."
The victory was Lemke's second of the season, joining the Creighton Classic title she won on Oct. 12 in Omaha. In records dating to 2003-04, she's the first Bluejay with two tournament titles to her credit. In addition, her 213 total was the best by a Bluejay for a 54-hole event in that span, and prior to this season no player from any school had shot a 213 total or better at the BIG EAST Championship since 2013. Lemke now owns four top-10 finishes in 10 events this season and her 75.97 scoring average to date is easily the best single season on file.
Fellow freshman Eleanor Hudepohl authored Creighton's second-best round of the afternoon, shooting a 75 to place 18th.
Firing identical 77s were junior Katie Allen and sophomore Gabby Tremblay. Allen finished tied for 24th place with a 236 total while Tremblay's 239 total was good for 27th overall.
Rounding out CU's scores on Saturday was sophomore Katie Berrian, who tied for 15th place with a 230 total after a final round 79.
Xavier won the BIG EAST team title for the third straight year with an 878 total to defeat runner-up Georgetown by 14 shots. The Musketeers are the first team to win three straight Championship titles since Seton Hall did it in 2014-16.Seton Hall leapfrogged the Bluejays to finish in third place after a 294 on Saturday that stood as the team's best. The Pirates finished with a 902 total, one shot better than Creighton's 903.
The event was held on the Mountain View course at Callaway Gardens, a par 72 track that measured 6,182 yards. Six teams and 30 players competed in the event.
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History made.
Freshman Katherine Lemke became the first @CreightonWGolf player to win the #BIGEASTgolf Championship this afternoon.@AlexisDownie_ caught up with the co-medalist: pic.twitter.com/XnO4RNvErr— BIG EAST Olympic Sports (@BIGEASTchamps) April 23, 2022
Team Standings – Final
- Xavier                        289-293-296—878 (+14)
- Georgetown            302-289-301—892 (+28)
- Seton Hall                 306-302-294—902 (+38)
- Creighton                 300-301-302—903 (+39)
- Butler                       307-308-307—919 (+55)
- St. John's                  306-310-309—925 (+61)
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Individual Leaders – Final
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T1. Katherine Lemke, Creighton       69-71-73—213 (-3)
T1. Abby Kiefer, Xavier                       69-73-71---213 (-3)
T1. Emma McMyler, Xavier             69-73-71---213 (-3)
4.   Megan Gormley, Georgetown   72-69-73---214 (-2)
5.   Ally Ross, Butler                            72-73-73—218 (+2)
6.   Jessie Kweon, St. John's              72-72-75---219 (+3)
T7. Sarah Fouratt, Seton Hall            74-76-73—223 (+7)
T7. Kara Carter, Xavier                       75-71-77—223 (+7)
9.   Margot Bechadergue, S. Hall      74-78-72—224 (+8)
T10.Esther Park, Georgetown           77-73-76---226 (+10)
T10.Kaitlyn Lees, Georgetown          76-73-77---226 (+10)
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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