ATHENS, Ga. — Céleste Dao, a senior on the Georgia women’s golf team during the 2022-23 season, qualified for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open on Wednesday. Dao secured the third and final spot in the qualifier at Duxbury Yacht Club South of Boston.
A native of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Quebec, Dao shot 6-under 138 over two rounds to finish third among 70 golfers in the field and two strokes clear of the qualifying cut. She opened with 4-under 68 and was second following the first loop. Dao closed with a 70 and at 6-under, three shots off the pace of medalist Perrine Delacour of France.
Dao has now made it through qualifying for the Open three times in Massachusetts. She captured medalist honors at Cape Cod National in 2018 and earned a spot at TPC Boston in 2019, before missing the cut in each of her U.S. Women’s Open appearances.
Dao, who received her bachelor’s degree in Finance from UGA last month, wrapped up her career at Georgia by playing in eight tournaments during the 2022-23 season. She recorded a 75.86 stroke average over 22 rounds and posted a season-best runner-up finish at the Lady Bulldog Individual Championship.
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open will be held at historic Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first time ever on July 5-9. Dao is the second former Bulldog to qualify for the tournament. Bailey Tardy, a two-time All-American for the Bulldogs and current LPGA Tour member, earned her spot by birdieing the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights, Minn., on May 22.