Augustana staged a tremendous comeback, rallying from a 16-shot deficit at the start of the day to finish in second place at the NCAA Division II North Regional Women's Golf Championships Wednesday at King's Walk Golf Course in Grand Forks, N.D. By finishing second, the Vikings qualify for the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships for the first time in school history.

The Vikings shot a 308 as a team to finish the 54-hole tournament with a team score of 940. They edged Minnesota State and Upper Iowa by 1 shot as both the Mavericks and Peacocks finished at 941. Nebraska-Omaha won the team title at 913 and will also advance to the national championships.

Augustana was in sixth place after each of the first 2 rounds. The Vikings entered Wednesday’s action with a team score of 632, 16 shots behind Minnesota State and 6 shots behind Upper Iowa.

The Vikings were among the first three teams to tee off, along with North Dakota and Truman State. Augie fired a 308 to jump ahead of UND and TSU which shot 316 and 317. The Vikings then had to wait for the final three teams to finish.

In addition, Carley Roach and Courtney Belanger were watching the scoreboard to see what their chances were to qualify for nationals as individuals. In order to do that, they would need to be one of the top 2 individuals not on qualifying teams.

Roach began the day in eighth place, while Belanger was tied for second, 3 shots off the lead. Roach opened the final round with a pair of birdies en route to an even-par 72, giving her a final score of 225, good enough for fourth place, but not good enough for an individual berth. Belanger briefly had the lead after shooting 1-under par after 7 holes. She remained in contention for an individual berth after 13 holes, but Belanger bogeyed 3 of the final 5 holes to finish in a fifth-place tie at 226 for the tournament.

However, Minnesota State shot 6-over par as a team over the final 3 holes to finish at 325 for the day, while Upper Iowa was +12 over the final 3 holes to finish with a 315 for the day, opening the door for Augustana to jump into second place.

Head coach Peggy Kirby also received strong performances from her other 3 golfers. Kelly Lauer shot a 78 on Wednesday to finish in a tie for 23rd place at 244. Joelle Kowalczyk was next in 29th place at 248, while Kaari Espeland tied for 30th place at 251.

Kaytie Spangler of Truman State and Rachael Schmidt of Upper Iowa earned the individual qualifying berths after tying for second place at 224.

The NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships will be held May 13-16 in Houston, Texas. The 72-hole tournament, which will be a part of the Division II National Championships Festival, will be played at Memorial Park Golf Course.

Team Scores
1 Nebraska-Omaha, 303-303-307 = 913
2 Augustana (SD), 322-310-308 = 940
T3 Minnesota State, 310-306-325 = 941
T3 Upper Iowa, 316-310-315 = 941
T5 Truman State, 318-311-317 = 946
T5 North Dakota, 319-311-316 = 946

Augustana Results
4. Carley Roach, 78-75-72 = 225
T5. Courtney Belanger, 76-73-77 = 226
T23. Kelly Lauer, 84-82-78 = 244

29. Joelle Kowalczyk, 84-83-81 = 248
T30. Kaari Espeland, 84-80-87 = 251