SMU women’s golf ties for fourth at the Chevron Collegiate, finishing ahead of five ranked teams behind strong rounds from Chen and Lee.
SMU women’s golf didn’t just show up at the Chevron Collegiate; it made a statement.
Competing at the Golf Club of Houston against a stacked 17-team field that included 10 ranked programs, the Mustangs battled their way to a tie for fourth at 6-under as a team.
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Even more impressive? They finished ahead of five ranked opponents, including No. 6 Arkansas, No. 11 Mississippi State and No. 43 TCU.
For a while, it looked like SMU might push even higher.
The Mustangs opened the final day within striking distance of the lead and briefly climbed the leaderboard while chasing No. 1 North Carolina. A steady two-over round kept them in contention before settling into a share of fourth with Iowa State.
Individually, Celine Chen and Mackenzie Lee paced the charge. Chen closed with an even-par 72 to finish at 2-under overall, highlighted by a four-under performance in round two. The junior’s tie for 11th marked her sixth career top-20 finish.
Lee matched Chen at 2-under for the tournament, also tying for 11th. She was especially sharp early in her final round, playing her first 14 holes bogey-free on her way to recording the 29th top-20 finish of her SMU career - a program benchmark.
Emily Odwin added another steady performance, finishing even for the week and tying for 20th after carding two opening rounds of 71.
Freshman Kirra St-Laurent continued to flash upside in just her second collegiate start, tying for 28th at 1-over. Her 67 in round two helped spark SMU’s 10-under team surge.
Grace Jin finished tied for 55th, while Yoonjeong Huh competed individually.
Next up: the GameAbove Sports Invite in California on March 9-10, where SMU will look to build on another strong showing against elite competition.