PORTLAND, Ore. – Just under a week removed from winning the team’s fifth GNAC Championships title, the Simon Fraser women’s golf team officially knows what competition it will face in the NCAA West Region Championships.
The Red Leafs capped off an exceptional season against conference competition by winning the GNAC Championships with a two-round score of 569 (298-298) to earn the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships and enter the regional tournament as the No. 11 seed. Simon Fraser has never finished outside of the top 10 this season through nine events, a record the team maintained last week as they swept the conference individual and team titles.
Simon Fraser leads the GNAC with an average of 303.2 strokes per round this season and boasts three of the five most efficient golfers in the conference. Dana Smith led the conference with a 74.5 stroke average on the way to winning the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene as a freshman. Smith shot at 2-under-par 142 to win the title, marking her first collegiate victory in the process. Including last week’s win, Smith has notched a total of five top-10 results, including three top-five finishes.
Meera Minhas ranks second on the team and in the conference with a 74.9 average on the season. Minhas took fourth place at the GNAC Championships with a two-day score of 8-over-par 152 for her fourth top-five finish of the campaign, including a win at the Southern Colorado Open. Kassie Muanyam has also featured prominently for SFU this season, ranking fifth in the GNAC and third on the team with a 76.3 stroke average on the way to three top-10 finishes, including a win at the Sonoma State Invitational. Muanyam finished in a tie for sixth at the conference championships with a score of 10-over-par 154.
Sueah Park was Simon Fraser’s second-highest finisher at the GNAC Championships, notching a third-place finish with a two-day score of 6-over-par 150. On the season, Park ranks fourth on the team and 11th in the conference with an average of 78.6 strokes per round. Anaya Bhandal finished in a tie for sixth at the GNAC Championships alongside Muanyam and comes into the west regional with a 77.8 stroke average that ranks sixth on the team.
The 2024 NCAA West Region Women’s Golf Championships will run May 6-8 at the Brookside Golf & Country Club in Stockton, Calif. The top five teams and two top individuals not on a team from an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, set for May 21-24 at Orange County National Golf Center in Orlando, Fla.
