Bernat Advances to NCAA Championship

BRYAN, Texas (K-State Athletics) – Kansas State women’s golf will be represented in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2003 and just the second time ever as Carla Bernat rose three spots to tie for third place during the final round of the 2024 NCAA Bryan Regional on Wednesday held at the par-72, 6,376-yard Traditions Club.

Bernat, who put together a second-straight score of 3-under par 69 during the final round, concluded the 2024 NCAA Bryan Regional with a 54-hole score of 7-under par 209, as she qualified for the national championship by finishing as the top individual on a non-advancing team by six shots.

“We are incredibly proud of Carla. Today was a first-class round,” head coach Stew Burke said. “She pushed when she needed to and played conservatively when the time was right. Making it through to the NCAA Championship as an individual is one of the toughest tasks in collegiate golf with only one spot available in each region. Carla really values her teammates and how they’ve pushed her to improve this season, and she’s looking forward to representing K-State on the national stage in California.”

The three-round total of 209 was the best by a Wildcat in the school’s NCAA Regional history and tied for seventh in K-State history overall. The previous best 54-hole score by a K-State women’s golfer in NCAA Regional play was 216 by Madison Talley during both the 2015 NCAA San Antonio Regional and the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

Bernat’s third-place finish was also the highest ever by a Wildcat in an NCAA Regional. The previous best was a fifth place showing that Christine Boucher produced in the 2003 NCAA Central Regional when the Wildcats competed as a team before Boucher moved on to the national championship as an individual.

Bernat began with a par on No. 1, which was a good sign of things to come as she bogeyed that hole in each of the first two rounds. That kickstarted a bogey-free 3-under par front 9 with birdies on the par-3 2nd hole, par-4 6th hole and par-5 8th hole. The junior also birdied the par-5 10th hole before pars on each of the next five holes. Her lone bogey of the day came on No. 16, but a pair of pars to close out her round sent her on to the national championship.

“Rinko (Mitsunaga) did an awesome job working with Carla this week,” Burke said. “It shows why she’s one of the best assistant coaches in the country. We’re very lucky to have her at K-State.”

Fifth-ranked LSU produced a winning score of 8-under par 856, while the other teams to move on from the NCAA Bryan Regional were SMU, Clemson, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad – the top-ranked amateur in the world – finished atop the individual leaderboard at 12-under par 204.

The 2024 NCAA Championship will be held next Friday through Monday, at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.

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