With mom in from Australia, Oklahoma State's Maddison Hinson-Tolchard wins NCAA Regional
STILLWATER — Having seen her daughter only once since she left their hometown of Perth, Australia, in the winter of 2020, Mandy Hinson-Tolchard jumped into action last month when the country fully dropped its COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“We opened up fully on the fifth of April and I pretty much booked the first flight I could,” Hinson-Tolchard said on Wednesday afternoon, standing about 50 yards from the 18th green at Karsten Creek Golf Club.
Moments earlier, her 20-year-old daughter — Oklahoma State sophomore Maddison Hinson-Tolchard — had just tapped in for a par to finalize what turned out to be the winning individual score at the NCAA Regional golf tournament.
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard wouldn’t know for about another hour that she was the regional champion, having finished well before those who were chasing her.
She birdied four of the first 10 holes on her way to a 3-under-par 69 on Wednesday and a 4-under 212 for the tournament for a two-shot win over three players. Her efforts helped the top-seeded Cowgirls secure one of the four spots advancing to the NCAA Championships on May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Baylor ran away with the regional team title, posting a 1-over-par 865, with Arizona State second at 879, then OSU and Auburn tying for third at 881.
The Cowgirls hovered around the cut line for much of the day, but surged late, with their top three players going a combined 3-under par on the back nine. As a team, the Cowgirls shot a 1-under-par 287 on Wednesday, while Auburn charged from sixth place to earn a top-four spot with a 12-under-par 276.
Now, OSU will head to the NCAA Championships holding the individual titles at itsir last two tournaments. Prior to Hinson-Tolchard’s win, OSU senior Lianna Bailey won the Big 12 Championship last week.
The win was the second of Hinson-Tolchard’s OSU career, the first coming in January at the Rapsodo Match in the Desert.
She started the day in a tie for second place and got off to a hot start, but never knew where she stood on the leaderboard.
“I like doing my own thing, not worrying about what scores are being posted, what I have to do to try and win or where the team’s at,” Hinson-Tolchard said. “It’s nice to just play with a free mind and not put too much expectation or pressure on yourself to make a couple of better scores.
“Individually, I had no idea what was going on for the whole day. I was nervous from the first tee shot to the last putt going in. When I walked off the green, Rina (Tatematsu) splashed me in water and I hadn’t even officially won yet. But that made me realize I was probably gonna win, which was cool.”
And sharing the moment with her mother was even more special.
After the 30-hour trip from Perth — the longest leg of which is a 15-hour flight from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas — Mandy arrived in Stillwater on April 27.
On May 3, she caddied for Maddison in the U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournament at the Clubs at Houston Oaks, in Hockley, Texas, where Maddison tied for the final alternate spot, but had to withdraw before the playoff.
“It got dark and we had flight at 7 o’clock the next morning, so we had to concede,” Mandy said. “It was a bit of a bummer, but she had two final exams for school, so we had to get back.”
Perth is 13 hours ahead of the central time zone, so Maddison’s father was tracking the regional tournament through the online scoring website Golfstat.com in the middle of the night.
“He was up at like 2 o’clock in the morning back home, watching the scores and calling me,” Maddison said. “I’m sad he can’t be here, but it’s really cool to have mum here.
“This one’s special. It’s cool that she was here to actually see me win a college event. To actually have her here and actually see me play and win was really, really cool.”
Mandy has work obligations, so she leaves on Saturday to fly home, meaning she won’t get to stay for the NCAA Championships.
Knowing that, win or lose on Wednesday, Mandy was thrilled to be in Stillwater.
“It was so good,” she said. “I haven’t seen her play competitively in any college tournaments, except a couple times on TV when it’s been telecast. It’s been really good to watch her and she’s done super-well, so even better.
“I always say she plays better when her mum’s around.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State golf: Maddison Hinson-Tolchard wins NCAA regional
