Women’s Golf Takes on Firestone Country Club for MAC Championships

Sunday, April 26

Ball State University

Mid-American Conference

Women’s Golf Takes on Firestone Country Club for MAC Championships

April 24, 2026 | Women's Golf

AKRON, Ohio - - The work has been done, now it is time for the Ball State women's golf team to have some fun on the course as it heads to Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, for the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championships.

The Cardinals will get their first look at the championship setup Saturday morning when it tees off at 11:04 a.m. in a practice round on the 72-par, 6,137-yard course. The real fun begins Sunday, with the first of three rounds in the three-day championship.

What better way to start the event then having the defending individual medalist senior Jasmine Driscoll teeing off first for the Cardinals at 9:50 a.m. Last season, Driscoll shot +2 (218) at the Delaware Country Club to earn a one-stroke victory over a quartet of other players to claim the title of MAC Champion.

After tying the lowest opening-round in MAC Championships history with a -5 (67), Driscoll was tied for the lead after two rounds at E (144). She closed the tournament at +2 (218) for the lowest individual score at the MAC Championships in program history, while becoming Ball State's third-ever MAC individual champion.

Following Driscoll off hole one's tee box will be senior Sarah Gallagher (10:00 a.m.), sophomore Sophie Korthuijs(10:10 a.m.), junior JJ Gregston (10:20 a.m.) and senior Sabrina Langerak (10:30 a.m.). For the opening round, the Cardinals will be paired with Eastern Michigan and 26-time defending champion Kent State.

Along with the five individuals above, freshman Skylar Dean will serve as the alternate for the Cardinals.

Overall, 50 players from all 10 league teams will be in action at the Firestone Country Club, with Eastern Michigan entering as the top seed after finishing the regular season ranked 19th in the national rankings according to SCOREBOARD Powered by clippd.

Kent State is the No. 2 seed and ranked 28th, followed by No. 3 Ball State (141), No. 4 Bowling Green (158), No. 5 Northern Illinois (177), No. 6 Akron (184), No. 7 Western Michigan (196), No. 8 Toledo (197), No. 9 Ohio (207) and No. 10 Central Michigan (208).

The teams will be repaired based on standings for Monday's second round and Tuesday's final round.

NEWS & NOTES:
- Last time out, the Cardinals placed 10th among the highly competitive 14-team field at the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational which included eight of the nation's top 81 teams ... Senior Sabrina Langerak led the squad for the second consecutive outing, tying for 35th overall at +19 (235).

- So far this season, the Cardinals have turned in 27 total rounds at or below par ... Sabrina Langerak and sophomore Sophie Korthuijs lead the way with seven apiece, while Sarah Gallagher is not far behind with five.

- Ball State closed the fall portion of its 2025-26 season by setting a trio of program records at the 2025 Diamante Intercollegiate, starting with the lowest round in program history at -6 (282) in the event's opening round ... Up next was the record for lowest score through 36 holes in an event at -2 (574) ... Ball State finished the trifecta with the lowest 54-hole score in program history at -2 (862) ... It was the first time in program history the Cardinals have finished a 54-hole tournament under par, with the previous best being +1 (865) set at the 2023 Diamante Intercollegiate.

- Entering the 2026 MAC Championships, the Ball State women's golf team owns a 300.10 stroke average which is on pace to shatter the current program record of 301.66 shot by the Cardinals over the course of the 2024-25 season ... The team's lowest round of the year is a program-record score of -6 (282) set in the opening round of the Diamante Intercollegiate (Oct. 19) ... So far this season, 20 of BSU's 30 rounds have been played under last season's record-setting stroke average.

- Sarah Gallagher collected her first collegiate tournament victory thanks to a 22-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to earn individual medalist honors at the Brittany Kelly Classic (Sept. 15-16) … She opened the 54-hole event with the lowest round of her collegiate career, shooting a -3 (69) … She followed with an E (72) in the second round, before forcing a playoff with birdies on two of her final five holes and shooting +5 (77) in a tough final round for the field … Overall, she tied for the tournament lead on the par-5s with a -5 (4.44) average, while ranking third on the par-4s at +4 (4.11) … She also tied for the tournament lead with 11 birdies and was tied for 16th among the 50-golfer field with 32 pars.

- As a team, the Cardinals won the Brittany Kelly Classic for the third straight season and the seventh time in program history … It was also the fourth event win under fourth-year head coach Cameron Andry … Andry's other win came at the 2024 Lady Jaguar Invitational (April 13-14).

- Ball State's MAC Championship lineup features five players who rank in the top nine in career scoring average in program history ... Leading the way is sophomore Sophie Korthuijs who climbed into the top spot after reaching the minimum number of career rounds last weekend on The Ohio State University Golf Club's Scarlet Course ... Seniors Jasmine Driscoll and Sarah Gallagher are currently third and fourth, respectively, while junior JJ Gregston is sixth ... Rounding out the group is senior Sabrina Langerak in ninth.

Ball State's Current Top Scoring Average List (Minimum 48 rounds):
1. Sophie Korthuijs, 2024-Current, 50 rounds, 3779 strokes, 75.58 average
2. Kiah Parrott, 2020-24, 64 rounds, 4868 strokes, 76.06 average
3. Jasmine Driscoll, 2022-Current, 122 rounds, 9293 strokes, 76.17 average
4. Sarah Gallagher, 2022-Current, 122 rounds, 9294 strokes, 76.18 average
5. Brittany Kelly, 2007-11, 125 rounds, 9557 strokes, 76.46 average
6. JJ Gregston, 2023-Current, 86 rounds, 6598 strokes, 76.72 average
7. Manon Tounalom, 2016-20, 118 rounds, 9074 strokes, 76.90 average
8. Jenna Hague, 2011-15, 116 rounds, 8958 strokes, 77.22 average
9. Sabrina Langerak, 2023-Current, 69 rounds, 5330 strokes, 77.25 average
10. Allison Lindley, 2014-17, 92 rounds, 7116 strokes, 77.35 average
11. Liz Kim, 2017-22, 131 rounds, 10135 strokes, 77.37 average
12. Madelin Boyd, 2022-Current, 91 rounds, 7067 strokes, 77.66 average

- Freshman Skylar Dean turned in the best tournament of her young career playing as an individual at the Lipscomb Invitational ... She finished the event at +7 (223), three strokes off her previous best which was a +10 (226) in her collegiate debut at the Brittany Kelly Classic ... After opening the Nashville Invitational with a +3 (75), she followed with back-to-back rounds of +2 (74), which were the second-lowest rounds of her career ... After finishing at +10 (223) at the Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge, Dean currently owns a 76.72 career stroke average.

- The team turned in a solid start to the 2025-26 season at the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 1-2) shooting its three lowest rounds ever on the Kampen-Cosler Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana … Ball State started the season with a rounds of +11 (299), +8 (296) and +5 (293) to finish sixth among a highly talented field … The effort helped the Cardinals top a pair of NCAA Regional teams from a year ago in Western Kentucky (+40; 904) and Georgia Southern (+42; 906).

- Ball State also picked up a head-to-head win over a current power conference program for the second straight season at the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 1-2), topping Iowa (+29; 893) … Prior to last season's head-to-head win over Wisconsin at the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational (April 12-13, 2025), Ball State had not topped a power conference school since the 2013-14 campaign.