GREENVILLE, N.C. — Led by sophomore Sarah Shao’s top-10 finish, the Columbia women’s golf team took fifth place out of 16 teams in the ECU Ironwood Invitational. The three-day, three-round tournament came to a conclusion on Tuesday at Ironwood Golf and Country Club.
Columbia (+40) beat out Louisville (+41) by one shot to earn fifth. The Cardinal came into the event as one of the top-75 teams in the nation. Tournament host ECU (+13) won the event by 12 shots over College of Charleston (+25).
Shao (+6) was solid all three days, carding rounds of 75, 73 and 74 at the par-72, 6,491-yard course. She earned solo eighth, picking up her third top-10 of the season and first since the Red Bandanna Invitational (Sept. 22-23). Shao parred 40 of 54 holes across three rounds, matching Xavier’s Madison Reemsnyder and fellow Lion Emily Zeng for the second-most pars in the tournament. The sophomore from Green Brook, New Jersey, played the par 3s at 1 over, which tied for the sixth-best mark in the field.
Kristina Xu (+9) and Camille Thai (+10) earned top 25s. Xu, a two-time winner on her rookie season, began with a 1-over 73 on Sunday, followed by a 78 on Monday and a final-round 74 on Tuesday. She played her last nine holes of the tournament at 2 under par. Thai earned her fourth top 25 of the season behind a strong final-round 3-under-par 69. The first year from Los Altos, California, birdied three of her first five holes on Tuesday and played even the rest of the way to card the lowest round of her collegiate career.
This is the sixth top-five team finish in eight tournaments for the Lions on the 2025-26 season. They now prepare for the 2026 Ivy League Women’s Golf Championship, which takes place April 24-26 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey.
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