2022 NCAA DII National Championship (Second Round)

GAINSVILLE, Ga. – Academy of Art women's golf junior Anahi Servin kept a firm grip on first place at the NCAA Division II National Championship on Wednesday, as Servin fired off her second straight 3-under-par 69 in round two at Chattahoochee Golf Club which gives her sole possession of first place at 6-under-par 138. 

Not only was it back-to-back 3-under's for Servin, it was once again the lowest score of the entire field as she now enjoys a three-stroke lead over the next closest competitor, Alex Naumovski of Lee University (3-under-par 141). Her total of seven birdies on a day full of higher scores helped the Architecture major stay one of just five golfers in the red, and her total of 10 birdies through the first two rounds are the most of any golfer in the tournament. 

Round two started quickly for Servin on the back nine, dropping her first birdie of the day on the 10th hole to initially move ahead of every other golfer in the field. A par would help Servin hold steady, but she would bogey each of the 12th, 13th and 14th holes for her first in the tournament and briefly fall to 2-over on the day. Though she would slip, Servin never fell out of the top five on the leaderboard, remaining in a tie for fifth at that moment. 

It was not long before Servin was able to right the ship, immediately turning her fortunes around with consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, returning to even-par. After saving par on the 17th, Servin used her fourth birdie of the round to retake sole possession of first place and make the turn to the front nine at 1-under. 

Servin, who saved a par on the first hole, would experience a few ups and downs with birdies on the second and fourth holes sandwiching a bogey on the third. Once more Servin would find her groove, saving par on the fifth before grabbing her final birdie of the day on the par-5 sixth hole. A trio of par saves would help her end the front nine at 2-under, and send her into the clubhouse among the first wave of golfers to finish with a three-stroke lead. 

Watching the rest of the day from the clubhouse, Servin would see challengers come close to a share for first place, but none could overtake her spot as they would run into challenges on their final holes of the day. Faith Kilgore of Colorado Christian, the 2022 West Regional Champion, had been hot on Servin's heels until a triple-bogey on the ninth hole dropped her into a tie for third at 1-under-par 143. Naumovski was one shot off of Servin's lead after she tallied her second birdie of the day on 13, but after four consecutive par saves, Naumovski closed out her round with a double bogey on the 18th hole to sit in second place. 

Not only does Servin have the most birdies in the tournament thus far, she has also combined for the best score on par-4 holes, totaling a 4-under-par on such holes while averaging just 3.80 strokes. 

The NCAA DII National Championship concludes individual play tomorrow, as Servin looks to hold her three-shot lead and capture her first ever individual national title and fourth All-American honor when she tees off at 8:20 ET (5:20 a.m. PT).