Sandburg women’s golf qualifies for nationals with 2nd-place finish at district tourney

OSWEGO — The next stop is nationals for the Sandburg women's golf team.

The Chargers punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship on Monday after finishing second in the Central District Championship at Fox Bend.

Sandburg's two-day total of 794 earned one of three national-qualifying spots available at the district tourney. The Chargers will play in the national tournament May 13-16 at Cedar Pointe in Boone, Iowa.

It's the second time in three seasons Sandburg has qualified for nationals and the Chargers' third trip overall. They previously competed in the national tournament in 2019 and 2023.

Sandburg also won the Region 4 tournament, which was held concurrently with the district tourney. The Chargers had four players earn spots on the all-region team: Ava Hackman (runner-up), Lauren Minkel (third), Abigail Strode (fourth) and Kylie Fahnestock (fifth). It's the second time the Chargers have won the Region 4 women's golf title. They also did it in the 2022-23 season.

Sandburg started the district tournament with a 392 to sit comfortably in second place after Sunday's opening round. The Chargers followed that up with a 402 on Monday to finish as runner-up, two shots ahead of third-place Rend Lake. Murray State (Okla.) won the district title with a score of 700 (341-359).

Hackman led the Chargers with rounds in the 80s each day. The sophomore from Oregon opened with a 16-over-par 88 and added a final-round 89 to finish fourth on the district leaderboard.

Minkel finished 10th with rounds of 101 and 98. Strode (98-108—206) placed 12th overall and Fahnestock (105-107—212) was 14th in the standings.

Murray State's Gabby Hack shot a tournament-best 3-over 75 in the first round and finished at 158 for the tournament to win district medalist honors. Hack was 11 strokes ahead of teammate Addison Furtick. 

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