Championship Central | Semifinal Results | Championship Results
POINT CLEAR, Ala. – Texas State claimed its second Sun Belt Conference Women’s Golf Championship – and its first since 2016 – with match play victories over Old Dominion and Georgia Southern on Thursday afternoon at The Lakewood Golf Club.
The top-seeded Bobcats defeated No. 4 seed Old Dominion, 3-1-1, in the match play semifinals before topping No. 2 seed Georgia Southern, 4-1-0, in the championship.
“I’m super proud of the team. They played so well,” said head coach Par Nilsson. “We’ve been practicing match play all year, so were really, really ready.”
In the match play final, Texas State graduate student and 2024 Sun Belt Conference individual champion Hailey Jones put the Bobcats on the scoreboard early with a dominant 6&5 victory over Georgia Southern’ senior Abbey Newton.
Hole No. 16 became center stage for the final moments of the tournament when junior Matilda Svahn closed out a 4&2 victory against fifth year Alex Stevenson. Junior Junia Gabasa was next up on the same hole where she finished off a 3&2 win against fifth year Haley Yerxa to secure the team’s decisive third point.
“After finishing runner-up last year, we all grinded out trying to back into position this year knowing we have nothing to lose,” Gabasa said.
In the morning’s semifinal matches, Georgia Southern cruised to a 4-0-1 victory over third-seeded ULM behind victories by Stevenson (2&1), Yerxa (2&1) and freshman Louise Reau (4&3).
For complete championship coverage, visit the
Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship Central page.
The Lakewood Golf Club, a member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, had its beginnings in 1944. Perry Maxwell, designer of the Tulsa Southern Hills Country Club, created Lakewood’s original Dogwood course in 1947, making it the first professional quality golf course in south Alabama. Lakewood Golf Club hosted the 1974, 1986 and 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
2024 Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship Match
No. 1 Texas State def. No. 2 Georgia Southern, 4-1-0
Matilda Svahn def. Alexandra Stevenson, 4&2
Junia Gabasa def. Haley Yerxa, 3&2
Fia Lindblom up 2 thru 15 vs. Louise Reau
Hailey Jones def. Abbey Newton, 6&5
Regina Plascencia up 2 thru 15 vs. Yvonne Chamness
2024 Sun Belt Women’s Golf Semifinal Matches
No. 1 Texas State def. No. 4 Old Dominion, 3-1-1
Matilda Svahn def. Carley Rudolf, 1-Up
Junia Gabasa def. Klara Wildhaber, 4&3
Hailey Jones def. Leiu Yeunyong, 3&2
Yvonne Chamness tied Puneet Bajwa thru 15
Lucia Gonzalez up 2 thru 15 vs. Carla Bourdeaux
No. 2 Georgia Southern def. No. 1 ULM, 4-0-1
Alexandra Stevenson def. Johanna Sjursen, 2&1
Haley Yerxa def. Daniela Campillo, 2&1
Louise Reau def. Anna Andrysova, 4&3
Regina Plascencia tied Alessia Mengoni thru 14
Abbey Newton up 2 thru 15 vs. Sonya Weerasinghe