Saint Germain’s sub-par streak fuels Houston’s top-five finish in Huntington Bank Collegiate

Three consecutive sub-par round finishes from senior Natalie Saint Germain not only helped her clinch a top-10 individual finish in the Huntington Bank Collegiate, but it helped Houston women’s golf secure a fifth-place team finish over the two-day event at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas April 6-7. 

In firing a pair of birdies in each nine of the final round, Saint Germain locked her second top-10 finish of the season dating back to her individual championship at the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 20. 

Opening the first round with three consecutive birdies, that total amounted to 11 across her three-round stretch towards finishing tied for sixth in the two-day event with a total of 6-under 210.

Senior Moa Svedenskiöld and sophomore Emilia Väistö tagged behind Saint Germain in top-25 finishes for the Cougars in the event, as both finished tied for 22nd and even-par at 216. 

Of the rest of Houston’s top-40 finishes, junior Maelynn Kim finished tied for 26th at 217, while freshman Sadie Adams and senior Alexa Saldaña posted individual finishes of 33rd at 218 and 40th at 220, respectively. 

With the Cougars’ 292 final-round score, Houston effectively finished fifth as a team with a two-day score 7-under 857, ahead of three top-25 ranked programs in the top-10 of the leaderboard. 

No. 27 Oklahoma State captured the team championship with a 25-under 839 finish, good for a three-shot finish ahead of No. 30 SMU, while Houston rounded out the top five of the leaderboard behind No. 15 UCLA and No. 18 Tennessee.

With the regular season officially concluded, the Cougars will begin postseason play, as they’ll compete in the Big 12 Championships at Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas April 23-25.