5 Birdies on Back 9 Give McCauley 4-Stroke Victory at Ron Moore Intercollegiate

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. -- Bella McCauley took over the lead early in the second round of the Ron Moore Intercollegiate on Saturday, and the University of Minnesota junior never relinquished it thereafter, on the way to four-shot victory, although things got a little tense in the middle of Sunday's final round at the University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch.

Having opened with a 6-under-par 66 on Friday at the University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch, and followed it with a 68, McCauley led by three strokes at the conclusion of 36 holes. But she got off to a slow start in the final round on Sunday, with one birdie and two bogeys in the first six holes. She turned in 1-over 37, and that, in conjunction with a 1-under 35 by Texas State junior Yvonne Chamness, reduced the lead to a single shot.

McCauley birdied the 550-yard, par-5 11th, but Chamness was back within one again after she birdied the par-4 12th. Chamness made another birdie at the 16th. By then, however, McCauley had birdied the par-3 13th, and she, too, birdied the 16th, plus the par-3 17th and par-5 18th. Her closing burst of three birdies in a row -- and five birdies in the last seven holes -- gave her a valedictory 68 and a 54-hole total of 202, 14 under par. That's the lowest three-round aggregate in the history of the Gopher women's program.

Chamness closed with a 69 and finished second at 206.

UNLV senior Mayumi Umezu ended up another stroke back in third at 207, after shooting 70. No one else was closer to McCauley than eight strokes. Anika Sato, a junior at San Diego State, started Sunday's round tied for second with Chamness and Umezu, but she shot 73 and dropped back into fourth at 210, one ahead of a four-way tie for fifth.

This was the third victory as a Gopher for McCauley, a former Minnesota state high school champion from Inver Grove Heights. She won twice during the 2023-24 college season, inlcuding a tie for first in April at the Big Ten Championships.

The format for the NCAA regional qualifiers and the national tournament stack the deck against individuals. (Basically, the college coaches are interested only in the team competition, which is why 150 of the 156 players in the NCAA Championships are there with teams -- and six are there as individuals only.) But McCauley beat the odds both as a freshman and as a sophomore and made it all the way to the NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors as a sophomore.

Even though she's only a junior, McCauley is scheduled to graduate next spring. She would still be eligible to play another year of college golf (2024-25), however, if she wants to.

In the team competition at Highlands, Minnesota and Denver led the field after the first round, but UNLV and Kansas State moved to the front in the second round and, basically, ran away from the other 12 teams over the weekend. UNLV put up a 7-under 281 team total on Sunday (four scores out of five count for each round). That was three better than Kansas State could do, and the Rebels edged the Wildcats by one stroke overall, 847 to 848, to claim the team trophy. No other team was within a dozen shots. Colorado was third, 14 behind UNLV at 861, and the Gophers were fourth at 864.

McCauley's sister, Reese, a freshman, led the individual standings after a first-round 65, but she struggled during a second-round 78. The younger McCauley, who is also a former state high school champion (she won twice, in 2021 and '23), came back with a 71 on Sunday, and other than her sister, she had the best finish for Minnesota -- a tie for 24th at 214. Junior Mariana Mesones, who had the Gopher record for low 54-hole, 203 (13-under) before it was broken by McCauley, shot 72 on Sunday and tied for 37th at 220.

The Ron Moore was the fourth and final tournament in the fall portion of Minnesota's schedule. (Bella McCauley finished top 7 in all four of those tournaments.) The Gophers will begin the winter/spring part of their schedule Feb. 2 in Rio Grande at the Puerto Rico Classic.


Ron Moore Intercollegiate

At University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch

Par 72, 6,611 yards

Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Final results

1. Bella McCauley, Minnesota 66-68-68--202 (-14)

2. Yvonne Chamness, Texas State 68-69-69--206

3. Mayumi Umezu, UNLV 68-69-70--207

4. Anika Sato, San Diego State 68-69-73--210

T5. Maria Garcia, New Mexico 73-67-71--211

T5. Sydney Givens, Colorado 76-67-68--211

T5. Maline Kraus, Hawaii 72-70-60--202

T5. Toa Yokoyama, UNLV 70-69-72--211

T24. Reese McCauley, Minnesota 65-78-71--214

T37. Mariana Mesones, Minnesota 71-77-72--220

T54. Sara Tomaszewski, Minn. 78-74-73--225

79. Madison Le, Minnesota 78-77-82--237

Teams

1. UNLV 284-282-281--847 (-17)

2. Kansas State 287-277-284--848

3.. Colorado 295-285-281--861

4. Minnesota 280-296-288--864

5. Denver 280-294-291--865

T6. Tulane 285-295-290--870

T6. Texas State 283-302-285--870

8. Xavier 286-294-293--873

9. Hawaii 293-294-287--874

T10. San Diego State 285-290-300--875

T10. Colorado State 282-288-305--875

12 Middle Tennessee 292-301-287--880

13. Wyoming 296-301-297--894

14. Wichita State 304-297-306--907