EAST LANSING, Mich.  When it counted the most Methodist's women's golf team answered the call, erasing a four-shot deficit in the first six holes Friday and marching onward from there to capture the national title at the NCAA 2021 Division III Women's Golf Championship.

The Monarchs had taken over second place from George Fox (Ore.) University with Day 2's tournament-low round of 300, inching to within one stroke of leader Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (CMU). The Tartans extended that narrow margin to four strokes Thursday but were unable to hold off Methodist in Friday's final round.

The deficit was down to a single stroke after three holes, was erased on No. 4, and tilted in Methodist's favor on the par-4 6th when the Monarchs played the hole in even par while CMU played it in 3 over.

That 3-stroke advantage grew to as many as 6 before Methodist settled for a 5-stroke victory and its 26th national title.

Makensie Toole of George Fox ran away with individual medalist honors, taking over the lead on Day 2 with what would prove to be a tournament-low 2-under 70, and finishing the tournament at 3 over for a 14-shot victory.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championship
Location: Forest Akers West Golf Course (Par 72, 5,818 yards); East Lansing, Mich.
Dates: May 11-14, 2021
Host institution: Olivet College
Participants: 25 teams and 6 individuals; 131 golfers
Top 3 teams: 1 – Methodist (321-300-308-302—1,231, +79), 2 – Carnegie Mellon (312-308-305-311—1,236, +84), 3 – George Fox (318-310-307-304—1,239, +87)
Top 3 individuals: 1 – Makensie Toole, George Fox (76-70-74-71—291, +3), 2 – Alexis Sudjianto, Carnegie Mellon (75-74-79-77—305, +17), T-3 – Ingrid Steingrimsen (79-79-75-74—307, +19), T-3 – Jillian Drinkard (79-76-76-76—307, +19), T-3 – Iris Liu, University of Redlands (Calif.) (78-78-74-77—307, +19)

HOW THEY DID IT

• Methodist, CMU and George Fox, grouped together each of the four days of the tournament, headed out for the final round from hole No. 1 starting at 10:10 a.m.
• A junior playing in her first collegiate season, Steingrimsen also saved the best for last, posting her low round of the event on Day 4. Her 2-over 74 was filled with 10 pars and included a front-nine birdie on No. 2 and then two more on the back on Nos. 10 and 15. Her third-place (tie) finish was two spots better than where she began her day on the individual leaderboard.
• Drinkard, also a junior but a seasoned veteran at nationals, gained one spot Friday to finish locked with Steingrimsen in third. Drinkard was her typical self as the round began, carding seven pars -- six in a row on Nos. 2-7 -- to cross the turn at +2. She birdied the 10th for a good start to her back nine and eventually finished +2 across the final nine holes.
• The low round of the day for Methodist, though, came from Paige Church (84-72-81-73—310, +22). The senior moved up eight spots to finish in a ninth-place tie with Friday's 1-over 73. Her opening nine was just short of spectacular with three birdies and a 1-under card at the turn. Her second nine sailed along in the right direction with a birdie on the 10th followed by four straight pars. No. 15 brought a double bogey to her card but she responded with a birdie on the 16th before closing out her back half at +2.
• Freshman Maggie Williams (89-74-76-79—318, +30), in her first national tournament, recovered nicely from a rough opening day. She climbed 76 spots up the leaderboard over the next two days then held serve on Day 4 to finish where the day began, tied for 21st place. The newcomer crossed the turn at +2 before encountering a few more challenges on the back nine on which she shot 5 over. She collected 10 pars in the round, as well as a birdie on No. 2.
• Senior Abby Bloom (79-78-83-85—325, +37) found Friday to be her most challenging of the tournament. Though she earned seven pars in the round, a double on her opening hole was a tone-setter Bloom found difficult to come off of. She finished the tournament tied for 36th place.

NUMBERS AND STUFF

• The final regular-season Golfstat.com rankings had the top eight figured out. Though that octet's finishing order would not match up with those rankings, the group would end the national tournament in the top eight spots on the team leaderboard.
• Redlands entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings, but would finish in fourth place, 26 shots behind George Fox.
• Methodist's round of 300 on Wednesday and 302 on Friday were the tournament's low rounds.
• The Monarchs were second best in playing the par 3s and par 4s, and finished as the leader on the par 5s with a 5.14 average (+11 total). Fox would hold the best scores on the par 4s, and CMU the best on the par 3s.
• CMU would also end nationals with a tournament-best 211 pars, ahead of Williams (Mass.) College (193) and Methodist (190). But Methodist was the top team in cutting strokes, registering 35 birdies in the tournament, seven more than Fox.
• CMU, not surprisingly given the aforementioned stats, had the individual leader in pars. The Tartans, in fact, had the top three in the category. But the combination of Drinkard's 43 pars, Williams' 39, Steingrimsen's 38, and Church's 11 birdies to go along with Steingrimsen's 8 birdies were too much of a good thing for CMU to rally past.