Ohio State's Hollenbaugh dominates Oceanside again to repeat as the winner of The Sally

 

   There’s something about the Oceanside Country Club layout in Ormond Beach, Fla. that fits the eye of Kary Hollenbaugh, a junior at Ohio State from New Albany, Ohio.

   Oceanside is the home of the venerable South Atlantic Women’s Amateur Championship, known better known by its shorthand moniker, The Sally. We’re talking venerable as in this was the 99^th playing of The Sally. The event will celebrate its 100^th anniversary next January.

   And for the second straight year, Hollenbaugh, No. 56 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), rolled to the crown in The Sally, a stop on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour of amateur events for women in Florida in the winter, by the same five-shot margin she did when she dominated the field a year ago. The 72-hole test wrapped up Saturday.

   Hollenbaugh has been a solid player in the lineup at Ohio State under Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic and a former Buckeye standout.

   But Oceanside brings out the best in Hollenbaugh’s game.

   Pretty sure The Sally caught a little of the cold air that descended deep into the eastern half of the country last week, although temperatures in the 60s would feel pretty toasty to those of us shivering in the Northeast. The scores were pretty high, which makes me think the wind was blowing, as it is wont to do in South Florida.

   But Hollenbaugh seemed unbothered by any of it. She trailed Kaitlyn Schroeder, the Jacksonville phenom who came home to play under her dad at North Florida after a year at Alabama, by a shot after Hollenbaugh opened with a solid 1-under 71.

   But while everybody else was having issues of one kind or another in the middle two rounds Thursday and Friday, Hollenbaugh put together back-to-back 2-under 70s to give herself a seven-shot lead going into Saturday’s final round.

   Hollenbaugh matched par in the final round with a 72 for a 5-under 283 total. She was the only player to finish under par for the week.

   Hollenbaugh’s closest pursuer was Emma Schimpf, a senior at the College of Charleston from Daniel Island, S.C. Schimpf matched the low round of the week with her sparkling 5-under 67 in Friday’s third round, but that still left her in second place and seven shots behind Hollenbaugh going into Saturday’s final round.

   Schimpf closed with a solid 2-under 70 to earn runnerup honors with an even-par 288 total. Schimpf has been a stalwart at the College of Charleston, including an individual crown in the conference championship in 2023 before the Colonial Athletic Association changed its name to the Coastal Athletic Association, the CAA in either case.

   Gianna Clemente, the junior phenom from Estero, Fla. who has a pretty good track record in this event herself, including a title in 2023, was another two shots behind Schimpf in third place at 2-over 290 after Clemente fired a sparkling final round of 4-under 68.

   Not sure if there was a back-nine start in those first two rounds, but Hollenbaugh took control of the tournament in the second round.

   She had bogeys on the first and second holes and then played 4-under golf the rest of the way with birdies at three, four, six and 13. Even if Hollenbaugh started off the 10^th tee, she was still 1-under on the incoming nine at Oceanside and bounced right back from the bogeys at the first and second holes with birdies on three of the next four holes.

   Hollenbaugh made a birdie on the sixth hole and had eight pars on the outgoing nine to open her third round Friday. After briefly stumbling with back-to-back bogeys at the 10^th and 11^th holes, Hollenbaugh rattled off birdies at 12, 14 and 18 to expand her lead to seven shots.

   Playing with a big lead isn’t always as easy it seems like it should be, but Hollenbaugh managed just fine in Saturday’s final round.

   She rebounded from a bogey at the second hole with birdies at four and five. After a bogey at the sixth hole, Hollenbaugh made a birdie at 10, a bogey at 12 and back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 that afforded her the luxury of a messy double bogey at the last.

   Ohio State, a Big Ten power, failed to advance to the NCAA Championship last spring, finishing sixth as a six seed in the Bryan Regional. It’s a new Big Ten this year with Pac-12 ex-pats Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joining the fray.

   Looks like the Big Ten Championship has booked a return date at Bulle Rock, the Havre de Grace, Md. layout that once played host to the LPGA Championship – forebearer of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – in April. Some pretty good golf will be on display just outside what is considered the Philadelphia area.

   I’m sure Hollenbaugh, who finished in a tie for 10^th at Bulle Rock last spring, and Strom, her coach, are hoping the Big Ten Championship is the jumping-off point for a run to the NCAA Championship at the LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. this spring.

   Schimpf highlighted the fall campaign of her senior season as she led College of Charleston to the team crown in the Evie Odom Invitational at Princess Anne Country Club by claiming the individual title, the sixth victory of her outstanding college career.

   Schimpf struggled early in The Sally, adding a 5-over 77 in Thursday’s second round to her opening-round 74 before finishing strong, going 7-under over the final two rounds to earn runnerup honors.

   Clemente, like Hollenbaugh a native Ohioan from Warren, was the runnerup to Hollenbaugh in The Sally a year ago. Like Schimpf, Clemente started slowly, struggling to a 6-over 78 in the opening round before adding a 73 in Thursday’s second round.

   But Clemente found her groove in the final two rounds over a golf course that she, too, seems to have an affinity for as she posted a 1-under 71 in Friday’s third round before closing with that 68 that enabled her to finish a shot behind Schimpf in third place.

   It’s easy to forget that Clemente is still just a Class of 2026 kid, the equivalent of a high school junior.

   She seems to save her best stuff for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, reaching at least the semifinals in each of the last three editions, falling in the final to Oregon sophomore Kiara Romero in the final in 2023 at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.

   Clemente finished in a tie for fifth place in her second shot at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship last spring and I’m guessing another invitation to that prestigious event is on its way, if it hasn’t arrived already.

   There isn’t a college coach in America who wouldn’t want to add Clemente to his or her roster, maybe even as soon as the spring semester of 2026, but her level of play would suggest that going directly to the pro ranks is also being seriously considered. Of course, there is the not small matter of NIL money college programs can offer or that individual players can earn on their own that is changing the equation a little.

   Schroeder, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Player of the Year in 2022, finished a shot behind Clemente in fourth place with a 3-over 291 total.

   After taking the lead with her opening-round 70, Schroeder struggled in the middle two rounds, following up a a 4-over 76 in Thursday’s second round with a 75 in Friday’s third round. She finished up with a solid 2-under 70.

   Schroeder was one of the most coveted recruits in the country in 2023, but she struggled at Alabama, failing to make the starting lineup in the spring of 2024.

   Schroeder will undoubtedly be more comfortable back home at North Florida, where her father Scott is the director of golf for both the men’s and women’s programs.

   Karoline Tuttle, a redshirt sophomore at Florida from Lake Mary, Fla., finished a shot behind Schroeder in fifth place with a 4-over 292 total. Tuttle was coming off a two-shot victory in last month’s Women’s Dixie Amateur at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla.

   Tuttle struggled in the first two rounds, adding at 6-over 78 in Thursday’s second round to an opening-round 73. But she got it going in the final two rounds, registering a solid 2-under 70 in Friday’s third round before closing with a 71.

   Morgan Ketchum, a junior at Virginia Tech from Winston-Salem, N.C., finished two shots behind Tuttle in sixth place with a 6-over 294 total.

   Thursday’s second round was the issue for Ketchum, too, as she had opened with a solid 1-under 71 before struggling to an 81. Ketchum bounced back with a 2-under 70 in Friday’s third round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   A couple of youngsters who plan to begin their college careers at the end of the summer, Thanana Kotchasanmanee of Thailand and Katelyn Huber of Gainesville, Ga., shared seventh place, each landing on 7-over 295, a shot behind Ketchum.

   Kotchasanmanee, who is headed for Princeton and the Ivy League, matched par in the opening round with a 72 before struggling a little in the middle two rounds with a 4-over 76 in Thursday’s second round and a 74 in Friday’s third round. She closed with a solid 1-over 73.

   Huber, who plans to join Tuttle with her home-state Florida Gators in the tough Southeastern Conference this summer, struggled a little early, adding a 4-over 76 in Thursday’s second round to her opening-round 75. But she bounced back with a 1-under 71 in Friday’s third round before matching Kotchasanmanee’s 1-over 73 in the final round.

   Clemente isn’t the only Class of ’26 Ohio native with a bright future. Mia Hammond, like Hollenbaugh a New Albany kid, flashed her considerable talent by matching the low round of the week with a sparkling 5-under 67 in Saturday’s final round that enabled her to climb into the top 10 as she finished in ninth place with an 8-over 296 total.

   Hammond, who has committed to join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke in the summer of 2026, teed it up in two LPGA Tour stops in Ohio in the summer of 2023, making the cut and finishing in a tie for 26^th place in the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio.

   Like a lot of players, Hammond struggled in Thursday’s second round, posting an 81 after opening with a 3-over 75. She bounced back with a 1-over 73 in Friday’s third round before finishing with a flourish in the final round.

   Rounding out the top 10 was Angela Zhang, another Class of ’26 entry from Bellevue, Wash., as she finished a shot behind Hammond in 10^th place with a 9-over 297 total. Zhang, who has committed to join the Big Ten’s Southern California in the summer of 2026, finished strong with a 2-under 70 in the final round.

   Avery McCrery, a Wilmington, Del. native, had a pair of top-10 finishes in The Sally the last two years. McCrery, who will join the program at Duke this summer, got off to a good start this year, but struggled a little in the final three rounds to finish among a trio of players tied for 16^th place with a 15-over 303 total.

   McCrery, coming off a solid tie for ninth place in last month’s Dixie Women’s Amateur at Eagle Trace, matched par in the opening round with a 72 and was just two shots off the pace. She added a 4-over 76 in Thursday’s second round and a 75 in Friday’s third round before closing with an 80.

   A couple of interesting names in the group tied for 16^th with McCrery were Alice Ziyi Zhao, a Class of ’27 competitor from China, and Grace Lu, a redshirt junior at Rutgers from Edison, N.J.

   Ziyi Zhao earned official phenom status when she burst onto the scene by earning a share of medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay as a 13-year-old. After opening with a 5-over 77 at Oceanside, Ziyi Zhao sandwiched a 78 in Friday’s third round with a pair of 74s in Thursday’s second round and Saturday’s final round.

   Grace Lu, who began her college career at William & Mary before transferring to Rutgers and the Big Ten, got off to a solid start with a 1-over 73 and added a 75 in the second round before struggling in the final two rounds with a 77 in Friday’s third round and a 78 in Saturday’s final round.

   Grace Lu’s younger sister Claire Lu, coming off a really nice start to her college career in the Ivy League with Penn in the fall, finished alone in 33^rd place in The Sally with a 22-over 310 total.

   I never caught up with the Penn women’s team in the fall, but the Quakers claimed a pair of team titles with Claire Lu leading the way in the victory in the Quinnipiac Classic by capturing the first individual crown of her collegiate career at the Farms Country Club in Wallingford, Conn.

   Claire Lu got off to a tough start at Oceanside, adding an 80 in the second round to her opening-round 79, but she kept battling, recording a 3-over 75 in Friday’s third round before finishing up with a 76.

   In The Sally’s Rockefeller Division, Chris Hunt of Sawgrass Country Club outdueled Barbara Pagana, winner of the Super Senior division in last summer’s Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship at Sunnybrook Golf Club, by two shots to capture the title with a 31-over 247 total.

   Hunt sandwiched an 87 in Thursday’s second round with a pair of 80s in the 54-hole Rockefeller Division, which wrapped up Friday.

   Pagana, who plays out of Huntsville Golf Club, kept the pressure on Hunt the whole way. Pagana’s opening-round 84 left her four shots behind Hunt. Pagana cut her deficit to three shots with an 86 in Thursday’s second round and closed with a solid 79 to finish two shots behind Hunt with a 249 total.

   It wouldn’t be a Sally without Merion Golf Club’s Liz Haines in the field and the ageless Haines finished in seventh place in the Rockefeller Division with a 270 total.

   Haines was coming off a tie for 10^th place in the Forever 49 Division in the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational at the Sun ’n Lake Golf Club in Sebring, Fla., which wrapped on New Year’s Eve. At Oceanside, Haines opened with an 86 and added a 93 in Thursday’s second round before closing with a 91.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northwestern freshman Meng finishes in a tie for seventh in Citrus Golf Trail Women's Invitational

 

   It was in the coronavirus pandemic summer of 2020 when a New Jersey girl, Megan Meng, playing out of Jericho National Golf Club in Bucks County, swooped in to Lebanon Country Club and beat a pretty strong field to capture the title in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship by three shots.

   Meng, a Pennington, N.J. resident, played out her high school career at Hopewell Valley Central and was one of the best junior players in her class in New Jersey.

   Northwestern’s reputation as an academic powerhouse is well-earned. So, yeah, the Wildcats are after smart kids, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming a perennial Big Ten and national power in women’s golf. And that’s how Meng landed in Chicago.

   Meng didn’t make the starting lineup at Northwestern as a freshman in the fall portion of the wraparound 2024-2025 season, although she did tee it up as in individual in the Wildcats’ home event, the Windy City Challenge, a tournament that drew a top field to Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette, Ill.

   Meng, still representing Jericho National, spent the final days of 2024 teeing it up in the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational, which wrapped up New Year’s Eve at Sun ’n Lake Golf Club’s Deer Run Course in Sebring, Fla. and finished in a tie for seventh place with an 8-over 296 total.

   The Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational is a direct descendant of the venerable Harder Hall Ladies Invitational, a stop on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour of amateur events for women in South Florida in winter that goes back to the 1950s.

   It looked like the event was going to die when the golf course at the Harder Hall Resort closed a few years ago, but the golf community in Sebring didn’t want the rich legacy of the Harder Hall to go away and rebranded the event, designed to rotate among the courses that make up the Citrus Golf Trail in the central Florida town.

   They seemed to have settled on the Deer Run Course at Sun ’n Lake for the first few editions of the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational and it seemed to provide quite a challenge with Sophie Renner of Germany edging Shauna Li, a junior standout from Canada, in a playoff after both landed on even-par 288 following the regulation 72 holes.

   Meng matched par in the opening round with a 72 that left her just two shots behind Liu, who had grabbed the lead with a 2-under 70.

   Meng put together back-to-back 2-over 74s in the middle two rounds Sunday and Monday before closing with a 4-over 76 that enabled her to share seventh place with Bridget Boczar, a junior at Baylor from Canton, Mich., at 8-over.

   Smart move by Meng to get to Florida for some competitive reps before the Northwestern season resumes next month in the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic.

   Can’t find a lot on Renner, although the roundup of the Citrus Golf Trail Women’s Invitational on amateurgolf.com website – an excellent resource for amateur golf all year long – indicated that she this is the third year in a row she has made the trip to Sebring.

   Looks like Renner’s still a junior player and I don’t see her name pop up on anybody’s recruiting list. A lot of the top junior players in Europe play college golf in the States, but not all of them.

   Renner only trailed Liu by a shot after opening with a 1-under 71. Renner really got it going early in Sunday’s second round and was 6-under through 12 holes. She cooled off a little down the stretch, but still carded a 2-under 70 that gave her a three-shot lead over Liu.

   Renner struggled a little in the third round with a 3-over 75, but still took a one-shot edge over Liu into the final round.

   Renner started fast in her final round of 2024, making birdies at the fifth, seventh, ninth and 10^th holes, but a bogey at 14, a double bogey at 17 and a bogey at 18 gave her a final round of even-par 72 and enabled Liu to catch her at even-par 288.

   Renner captured the title on the third hole of the playoff. Not sure if it was sudden death or a three-hole aggregate deal, but a par on the third hole of the playoff got the job done for Renner.

   Liu, a Class of 2027 competitor, was one of five players who finished in tie for fifth place, a group that included Wilmington, Del. native Avery McCrery, in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) calendar that was held Thanksgiving week at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course in Texas.

   It was really just Liu and Renner going head-to-head the whole week at Sun ’n Lake’s Deer Run Course.

   After taking the lead with her opening round of 2-under 70, Liu fell three shots behind Renner with a 2-over 74 in the second round and got within a shot of Renner with a 1-over 73 in Monday’s third round.

   Liu was really solid in Tuesday’s final round. After making a bogey at third hole, Liu went 2-under the rest of the way, with birdies at eight and 14 and 13 pars as she caught Renner with her final round of 1-under 71.

   Another Canadian youngster, Clara Ding – she’s a Class of ’29 competitor, so yeah, basically an eighth-grader – shared third place with defending champion Sofia Cherif Essakali, a Moroccan who was all of 14 when she captured the title in the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational a year ago. Ding and Essakali landed on 3-over 291, three shots behind Renner and Liu.

   After posting back-to-back 2-over 74s in the first two rounds, Ding matched par in Monday’s third round with a 72 before closing with a solid 1-under 71.

   Cherif Essakali struggled in the opening round with a 79, but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in Sunday’s round before charging into contention with a sparkling 3-under 69, one of the very few sub-70 rounds in the tournament, in the third round. Cherif Essakali matched par in the final round with a 72 to complete a spirited defense of her title.

   Siuue Wu, a native of Hong Kong who moved right into the starting lineup as a freshman at Florida in the fall, finished two shots behind Ding and Cherif Essakali in fifth place with a 5-over 293 total.

   Wu, coming off a tie for fifth place in the Women’s Dixie Amateur earlier in December at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla., opened with a 2-over 74 and matched par in the second and third rounds with back-to-back 72s before finishing up with a 3-over 75.

   Ana Boone, a high school senior playing not far from her Champions Gate, Fla. home, finished two shots behind Wu in sixth place with a 7-over 295 total. Boone, who will join the program at Rice this summer, struggled a little in the opening round with a 5-over 77, but settled down with back-to-back 73s in the middle two rounds before matching par with a 72 in her New Year’s Eve final round.

   Joining Meng in the tie for seventh place was Baylor’s Boczar, who bounced back from an opening round of 4-over 76 with a sparkling 3-under 69 in the second round. Boczar struggled again in Monday’s third round with a 77 before closing with a 74 that enabled her to join Meng at 8-over.

    A couple more college players, Mimi Burton, a sophomore at Notre Dame from Austin, Texas, and Nancy Cox, a freshman at Florida Atlantic from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each ending up with an 11-over 299 total, three shots behind Meng and Boczar.

   After struggling to a 6-over 78 in the opening round, Burton carded a 75 in the second round before finishing up with back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds.

   Cox struggled in the first two rounds adding a 6-over 78 in Sunday’s second round to her opening-round 79. But she found her groove in the final two rounds, matching par in Monday’s third round with a 72 before closing with a solid 2-under 70.

   Martha Leach of Hebron, Ky., playing out of Traditions Golf Club, was the runaway winner of the Forever 49 Division at Sun ’n Lake’s Deer Run Course with a 15-over 303 total.

   Leach captured the title in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in 2009. Got a chance to watch Leach 14 years later when she was in the group I was caddying in in two days of qualifying for match play in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Stonewall’s North Course and still good enough to earn a spot in the match-play bracket against younger players.

   Leach, the sister of three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Hollis Stacy, earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, Wash., but ran into a buzzsaw in the opening round when she lost to eventual champion Nadene Gole of Australia.

   Leach added a 79 in Sunday’s second round to her opening round of 4-over 76, then turned it up a notch, posting a 3-over 75 in Monday’s third round before closing with a solid 73 on her way to an 11-shot victory.

   Kembra Benson, playing out of Pinehurst Country Club, was Leach’s closest competitor as she earned runnerup honors with a 315 total. After carding back-to-back 6-over 78s in the first two rounds, Benson recorded back-to-back 79s in the final two rounds.

   Kim Keyer-Scott of Bonita Springs, Fla. finished a shot behind Benson in third place with a 315 total. Keyer-Scott started slowly, adding an 80 in Sunday’s second round to her opening-round 81, but put together back-to-back 5-over 77s in the final two rounds.

   Like Leach, Keyer-Scott earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Senior Am at Broadmoor, but was knocked out in the opening round.

   Finishing in a tie for 10^th place with a 337 total in the Forever 49 division was Merion Golf Club’s Liz Haines, who is 76 or so years old. Haines had a pair of 86s in the first two rounds at Sun ’n Lake’s Deer Run Course before signing for an 83 in Monday’s third round and an 82 in the final round.

   At some point last summer, Haines could celebrate the 20^th anniversary of her run to the final of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, Calif., where she lost to Carolyn Creekmoore. More than 20 years later and she’s still getting it around in pretty good fashion on a golf course set up for a championship.