McDermott continues spring roll by claiming a Philly Junior Tour victory at Indian Spring

 

   Brad McDermott, coming off a sophomore season at Radnor last fall that saw him earn a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship, put together a solid 2-over-par 72 at Indian Spring Golf Course in Evesham Township, N.J. Saturday that gave him his second Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory of the spring.

   McDermott made birdies at the fourth, 12^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard to claim top honors in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   McDermott was a winner in a Philly Junior Tour stop at Bensalem Township Country Club earlier in the month.

   It was a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event for the boys in which players can earn points that give them status on some of the more competitive junior circuits, most notably for the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events.

   I’ll break out the usual Philly Junior Tour divisions, the 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, while referring to the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   McDermott finished a shot ahead of Kasim Narinesingh-Smith, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Kennett by reaching the PIAA Class AAA Championship for the second year in a row last fall.

   Narinesingh-Smith made a birdie on the fifth hole and had 13 pars on his card, including 10 pars over the last 11 holes, to earn runnerup honors among the older guys and in the overall scoring.

   Sam Rosenberg of Cherry Hill, N.J. made a birdie on the third hole and had 13 pars on his card, including a run of seven in a row from the sixth through the 12^th holes, as he finished in third place in the 16-to-18 division with a 4-over 74.

   Rosenberg shared third place in the overall scoring with Robert Hiltner of Northfield, N.J. as Hiltner finished atop the 13-to-15 division with a 74.

   Connor Breen of Medford, N.J. took fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and finished in a tie for fifth overall with a 5-over 75.

   Jesse Serata of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in fifth place among the older guys and in a tie for seventh in the overall standings with a 76.

   Michael Liu, a sophomore at Archmere Academy and a Garnet Valley resident, shared sixth place in the 16-to-18 division with Conestoga sophomore Chris Sung and Brandon Carrigan of Warrington and they were part of a seven-way logjam tied for 10^th in the overall scoring as each landed on 7-over 77.

   Campbell Swart of Southampton, N.J. took ninth place with a 78 and Tre Lesperance of Chadds Ford rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division, finishing alone in 10^th with an 80.

   Hiltner made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and added another at 13 and had eight pars on his scorecard, finishing his round with four straight pars, as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division and shared third place in the overall scoring with Rosenberg in the 16-to-18 division with a 4-over 74.

   Liam Crowley, coming off a solid freshman season with Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Ac League last fall, made a birdie on the fourth hole and had 12 pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Hiltner in second place in the 13-to-15 division and shared fifth in the overall scoring with Breen from the 16-to-18 division with a solid 5-over 75.

   The duo of Sebastian Park of Lansdale and Thomas Carpenter of Bristol shared third place among the younger guys and ended up in a tie for seventh overall with Serata of the 16-to-18 division as each carded a 6-over 76.

   Park made birdies on the fourth and 12^th holes and had 10 pars on his card while Carpenter made a birdie at 15 and also had 10 pars on his card.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J., Trebor Melendez of Vineland, N.J., Zachary Daniels of Bryn Mawr and Ian Rotto of Kennett Square each signed for a 7-over 77 as they shared fifth place in the 13-to-15 division and finished in a tie for 10^th overall with Liu, Sung and Carrigan of the 16-to-18 division in the overall scoring.

   It’s a testament to the depth of talent on the Philly Junior Tour when you have 16 players separated by five shots in the overall standings.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Ben Duffy of Moorestown, N.J. and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each registering a 79.

   On the girls side, Amy Sun of Princeton, N.J. had four pars on her scorecard as she captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 91.

   Molly Wagner of Newark, Del. earned runnerup honors with a 104 and Juliana Gatt of Newtown rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in third place with a 108.

   Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square made a birdie on the third hole and had three pars while besting the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 39.

   Patrick Thomas of Hockessin, Del. made a par on the third hole as he earned runnerup honors with a 46.

   Matthew Bowman of Newtown and Reed Starzecki of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for third place, each posting a 47. Bowman had three pars on his card and Starzecki recorded a pair of pars.

   David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. took fifth place with a 48 and Samuel Karas of Blue Bell finished sixth with a 51.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division were David Chando of Williamstown, N.J. and Antonella Ferrer of Wynnewood as they finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 52.

 

 

 

Indiana surprises by rallying to capture team title in Big Ten Championship at Bulle Rock

 

   There was a time when Indiana was a dominant power in the Big Ten, but it’s been a while.

   But Sunday at Bulle Rock Golf Course, the Pete Dye design that once hosted an LPGA Tour major championship in Havre de Grace, Md., it was the Hoosiers holding the trophy after they edged Michigan State by a shot. It was Indiana’s first Big Ten championship since 1998.

   According to the Indiana website, the Hoosiers were No. 74 in the Scoreboard powered by clippd rankings when the Big Ten Championship teed off Friday. Pretty sure that meant the only way Indiana was going to get a spot in an NCAA regional was by winning the conference crown and they did just that.

   Indiana was led by Caroline Craig, a fifth-year senior from Sautee Nacoochee, Ga. who grabbed a share of medalist honors with Minnesota’s Isabella McCauley, a sophomore from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and Michigan’s Monet Chun, a senior from Canada and No. 70 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), the trio landing on 7-over-par 209.

   Craig, who spent the first four years of her college career at Southeastern Conference power Georgia, carded back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds over the 6,314-yard, par-72 Bulle Rock layout before closing with a solid 1-under 71.

   Indiana matched par in Friday’s opening round with a 288 before adding a 3-under 285 in Saturday’s second round. That left the Hoosiers trailing Michigan State by 11 shots going into Sunday’s final round. The Spartans had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 9-under 279, the best team round of the weekend, before adding a 5-under 283 in Saturday’s second round.

   But Michigan State struggled a little in Sunday’s final round with a 7-over 295. Indiana, behind a sparkling 5-under 67 by Caroline Smith, a redshirt junior from Inverness, Ill., and Craig’s 71, put together a solid 5-under 283 for an 8-under 856 total that was one shot better than the Spartans’ 7-under 857 total.

   Smith’s strong finish enabled her to finish in a tie fourth place with Northwestern’s Lauren Nguyen, a senior from Seattle, Wash., each ending up two shots behind the three co-medalists at 5-under 211. Smith had opened with a 1-over 73 before adding a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round.

   Northwestern, which came into the Big Ten Championship at No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished six shots behind Michigan State in third place with a 1-under 863. The Wildcats opened with a 1-under 287 and struggled a little with a 7-over 295 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 7-under 281 total.

   Nguyen led the way for Northwestern as she opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 and struggled a little with a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a solid 2-under 70 to join Indiana’s Smith at 5-under.

   Time for some breaking news since the NCAA regional qualifiers were unveiled during a live broadcast on The Golf Channel Wednesday afternoon.

   The top three finishers in the Big Ten Championship are all headed to the East Lansing Regional, where Michigan State will be seeded fifth on its home course, the Forest Akers West Golf Course. Northwestern will be the two seed in the East Lansing Regional and Big Ten champion Indiana will be seeded ninth.

   The top five finishers in each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s Champions Course in Carlsbad, Calif. The regionals tee off Monday, May 6.

   I’ll add in the other regional assignments for the Big Ten teams who made it and a couple of the players invited to compete as individuals as they come up in this post.

   Michigan, behind co-medalist Chun, finished in a tie with Purdue for fourth place, each ending up a shot behind Northwestern with an even-par 864 total.

   The Wolverines, who have been playing some solid golf this spring, matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 1-under 287 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 289.

   It was the second Big Ten individual championship for Chun as she recorded a 6-under 66 in Saturday’s second round following an opening round of 1-over 73 and then finished up with a 2-under 70. Two years ago, Chun unfurled a final round of 5-under 66 at Fox Chapel Golf Club in suburban Pittsburgh to claim the Big Ten individual title and lead the Wolverines to the first team crown in program history.

   Earlier this month, Chun, the runnerup in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay, became just the seventh player in the history of women’s college golf to shoot a 61 when she went 10-under on a solar eclipse Monday at Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.

   After opening with a 4-over 292, Purdue added a 1-over 289 in Saturday’s second round before finishing strong with a 6-under 282 to join Michigan at even-par.

   Michigan will be a six seed in the Auburn Regional at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala. Purdue is headed for the Las Vegas Regional where the Boilermakers will also be seeded sixth.

   Ohio State, under third-year head coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion during a standout scholastic career at Lansdale Catholic, finished eight shots behind Michigan and Purdue in sixth place with an 8-over 872 total. After struggling in the opening round with a 10-over 298, the Buckeyes matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 288 before closing with a 2-under 286.

   Strom’s Buckeyes also got a six seed as they will tee it up in the Bryan Regional at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas.

   Maryland finished a shot behind Ohio State in seventh place with a 9-over 873 total as the Terrapins bounced back from an opening round of 298 by tallying a 1-under 287 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   Maryland is also headed to the Bryan Regional, where the Terrapins will be seeded seventh. The top seven finishers in the team standings at the Big Ten Championship all earned berths in an NCAA regional.

   Little bit of a disappointing Big Ten Championship for Penn State as the Nittany Lions finished in a tie for 13^th place with Iowa, each landing on 38-over 902. Penn State struggled in the opening round with a 310 before adding a 6-over 294 in Saturday’s second and closing with a 298.

   The Big Ten Championship allowed six players per team in a six-score-four format. The teams that advanced to the NCAA regionals will be limited to five players, so the Big Ten Championship gave coaches one last chance to decide on their regional lineups.

   Backing up the Carolines, Craig and Smith, for Indiana were the Johnsons, Chloe and Faith, sophomores from Evansville, Ind. The Indiana roster doesn’t indicate that the Johnsons are twins or even sisters, but I’m guessing they are twins. Both spent their freshman season at Furman before coming home to Indiana.

   Chloe Johnson finished in the group tied for 23^rd place with a 3-over 219 total as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 76.

   Faith Johnson finished among the group tied for 28^th place with a 4-over 220 total as she matched par in the final round with a 72 after registering back-to-back 2-over 74s in the first two rounds.

   Dominika Bordova, a senior from the Czech Republic, finished alone in 54^th place with a 228 total. Bordova struggled in the opening round with a 6-over 78 and in Saturday’s second round with a 77, but her final round of 1-over 73 was a crucial counter for the Hoosiers.

   Rounding out the Indiana lineup was Maddie May, a redshirt sophomore from New Zealand who finished in the group tied for 55^th place with a 229 total. May sandwiched a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 77s.

   Perhaps the biggest splash of the weekend was made by Minnesota’s McCauley as she erupted for an eight-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece of a final-round 64 to earn her share of the individual title.

   McCauley, who finished in a tie for second place as a freshman in the Big Ten Championship a year ago at Fox Chapel, had opened with a 2-over 74 and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before going off with her 8-under final round to catch Indiana’s Craig and Michigan’s Chun for a share of medalist honors.

   Minnesota finished in ninth place with a 20-over 884 total, but McCauley will represent the Golden Gophers and the Big Ten as an individual in the Auburn Regional. The top individual from a non-advancing team in the regionals earns a trip to La Costa to compete for individual honors in the NCAA Championship.

   Michigan State was led by Jersey girl Katie Lu, a junior from Plainsboro who finished alone in sixth place in the individual standings with a 4-under 212 total that left her a shot behind Indiana’s Smith and Northwestern’s Nguyen.

   Lu was tied for the individual lead going into Sunday’s final round after she added a 4-under 68 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 70, but fell back a little by finishing with a 2-over 74.

   Lu’s Michigan State teammate, Paula Balanzategui, a sophomore from Spain, shared seventh place, two shots behind Lu at 2-under 214, with Michigan’s Hailey Borja, a fifth-year player from Lake Forest, Calif., and Illinois’ Isabel Sy, a senior from San Gabriel, Calif.

   Balanzategui opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 and matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 3-over 75. Borja opened with a 1-under 71 and added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Sy recorded back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 2-over 74. Sy will representing the Fightin’ Illini and the Big Ten as an individual at the Bryan Regional.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Big Ten Championship individual chase were four players who finished in a tie for 10^th place at 1-under 215, including Northwestern’s Ashley Yun, a freshman from West Covina, Calif., Rutgers’ Leigha Devine, a graduate student from Windsor, Colo., Purdue’s Momo Sugiyama, a junior from Australia, and Ohio State’s Kary Hollenbaugh, a sophomore from New Albany, Ohio.

   Yun came on strong with a final round of 4-under 68 after opening with a 3-over 75 and matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 72. After opening with a 1-over 73, Devine added back-to-back 1-under 71s in the final two rounds.

   Sugiyama sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 71s. Hollenbaugh bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a solid 4-under 68 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Another Big Ten player who received a bid to compete as an individual was Nebraska’s Kelli Ann Strand, a sophomore from Challis, Idaho who will tee it up in the Cle Elum Regional at the Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash. Strand finished in a tie for 40^th place with an 8-over 224 total in the Big Ten Championship.

   It looks like Sidney Yermish, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Lower Merion, will be in the lineup for Michigan in the Auburn Regional in their freshman year. Yermish identifies pronoun-wise as they/their/them.

   Yermish joined Strand in the group tied for 40^th place at 8-over at Bulle Rock as they bounced back from an opening-round 78 with back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds for the Wolverines. It has been a really solid freshman season for Yermish.

   Also in that group at 8-over 224 was one of two Bucks County natives in the Purdue lineup, junior Jade Gu, who was a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Pennsbury. Gu added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 76.

   Also in the Purdue lineup was junior Natasha Kiel, a New Hope native who was a scholastic standout at George School. Kiel sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 75s to finish among the group tied for 31^st place with a 5-over 221 total. Kiel spent two years at Vanderbilt before transferring to Purdue.

   Leading the way for Penn State was junior Michelle Cox, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus who finished among the group tied for 23^rd place with a 3-over 219 total. Cox bounced back from an opening-round 79 with a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a solid 4-under 68.

   Drew Nienhaus, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., backed up Cox as she finished in the trio tied for 28^th place with a 4-over 220 total. After opening with a 3-over 75, Nienhaus tallied a 1-under 71 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 74.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a senior from France making her final appearance in the Big Ten Championship, finished among the group tied for 62^nd place with a 230 total as she recorded back-to-back 5-over 77s in the first two rounds before adding a 76 in the final round.

   Myranda Quinton, a sophomore from Canada, finished in the group tied for 72^nd place with a 236 total as she added a 5-over 77 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 79 before closing with an 80.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup at Bulle Rock were Carlota Garcia, a graduate student from Spain, and Victoria Tip-Aucha, a senior from Vienna, Va. via Thailand, both of whom landed in the group tied for 77^th place at 238.

   Garcia added a 5-over 77 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 82 before finishing up with a 79. Tip-Aucha bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 3-over 75 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 79.

   A little bit of a disappointing first season at the helm for the Nittany Lions for Kristen Simpson, but Division I women’s golf has never been more competitive and the Big Ten is no exception. Not sure if Penn State will get another chance to compete in the National Golf Invitational, a consolation-prize tournament in much the same way that the National Invitational Tournament has operated in men’s basketball over the years.

   Penn State captured the team crown in last spring’s inaugural NGI at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lopez Ramirez the star of the show as she leads Mississippi State to its first SEC crown

 

   In a conference with as much star power as any in the country, it was the star of Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez that shone the brightest in last week’s Southeastern Conference Championship at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.

   The SEC Championship mimics the setup of the NCAA Championship with three days of stroke-play qualifying for match play followed by two days of the pure drama of match play.

   And Lopez Ramirez, a senior from Spain and No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was there for all of it.

   After capturing the SEC’s individual title for the second year in a row by three shots over some of the best amateur players on the planet, Lopez Ramirez won two of three matches and in the other battled LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, a graduate student from Sweden and the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, to a draw.

   After knocking off LSU, 3.5-1.5, in last Monday’s semifinals, the Bulldogs found themselves in the final against Texas A&M in a rematch of last year’s SEC title match.

   This time, things were different. With Lopez Ramirez setting the tone with a dominant 5 and 4 victory over Jennie Park, a senior from Carrollton, Texas and No. 99 in the Women’s WAGR, Mississippi State claimed a 3-2 victory over Texas A&M to capture the first SEC crown in the program’s history.

   As is so often the case in these match-play scenarios, where there is the veteran senior coming through like she always does, there is also the precocious freshman, seemingly oblivious to the high-stakes situations in which she suddenly finds herself.

   Avery Weed, a freshman from Ocean Springs, Miss., filled that role quite nicely, thank you. When Weed stiffed her approach to the green at the 17^th hole, it punctuated a 2 and 1 victory over the Aggies’ Zoe Slaughter, a senior from Houston, Texas who has been in a bunch of these high-leverage situations herself over the years, and clinched the SEC title for the Bulldogs.

   Weed went 3-0 in match play for Mississippi State, claiming a 5 and 3 victory over Kentucky’s Marissa Wenzler, a graduate student from Dayton, Ohio, in the Bulldogs’ 3.5-1.5 victory over the Wildcats in the quarterfinals and coming up with a huge 1-up victory over LSU’s Latanna Stone, a graduate student from Riverview, Fla. and No. 34 in the Women’s WAGR, in their stunning upset of the Bayou Tigers in the semifinals.

   All Weed did was roll in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18^th green to finish off her victory over Stone.

   Stone has match-play cred for days, twice a member of winning U.S. Curtis Cup Match teams and the runnerup to another SEC star, Auburn’s Megan Schofill, a fifth-year player from Monticello, Fla. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, in last summer’s all-SEC U.S. Women’s Amateur final at Bel-Air Country Club.

   Weed, however, seemed unbothered.

   Still, Mississippi State had to overcome Texas A&M’s formidable sister act of Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a freshman from Spain and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, and Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a graduate student from Spain.

   Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio apparently hung around for a fifth year in College Station to get a chance to play on a team with her younger sister and they accounted for both of A&M’s points in the loss to Mississippi State in the SEC final.

   Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio demolished Mississippi State’s Samura Janthamunee, a sophomore from Thailand, 7 and 6, and Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over the Bulldogs’ Chiara Horder, a junior from Germany.

   The wins by the sisters Fernandez Garcia-Poggio completed a 3-0 run in match play by both of them as they also claimed wins in the Aggies’ 3-2 victory over Georgia in the semifinals and in their 3.5-1.5 triumph over Arkansas in the quarterfinals.

   After capturing the SEC title a year ago, Texas A&M made the deepest postseason run of any of the SEC teams, reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. before falling to eventual national champion Wake Forest.

   Mississippi State got another clutch performance in the title match from Izzy Pellot, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. who accounted for the Bulldogs’ other full point with a 2 and 1 victory over Adela Cernousek, a junior from France and No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Pellot earned a full point for Mississippi State in its semifinal win over LSU when she pulled out a 2 and 1 victory over Aine Donegan, a junior from Ireland and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR. Donegan made the cut and played the weekend in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

   The third full point for the Bulldogs against LSU was recorded by Horder as she rallied to claim a 2 and 1 win over Taylor Riley, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif.

   LSU’s lone full point came from Carla Tejedo, a senior from Spain who took a 4 and 3 decision over Janthamunee.

   In Texas A&M’s semifinal victory over Georgia, the older of the Fernandez Garcia-Poggio sisters, Bianca, rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over the Bulldogs’ LoraLie Cowart, while Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio earned the clinching point for the Aggies with a hard-fought 1-up victory over a stubborn Savannah De Bock, a freshman from Belgium.

   Cernousek earned the other point for Texas A&M with a 2 and 1 over Georgia veteran Caterina Don, a fifth-year player from Italy and No. 75 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Georgia’s Thai pair accounted for its two  points as freshman Natachanok “Drive” Tunwannarux knocked off Slaughter, 2 and 1, and graduate student Napat “Jenny” Lertsadwattana edged Park, 1-up.

   In addition to Weed’s victory, Mississippi State’s other two full points in its quarterfinal win over Kentucky came from Lopez Ramirez, who claimed a 2 and 1 decision over the Wildcats’ Laney Frye, a senior from Nicholsville, Ky. and No. 62 in the Women’s WAGR, and Pellot, who knocked off Cathryn Brown, a freshman from Eddyville, Ky.

   Kentucky’s full point came via a victory by 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle, a fifth-year player from West Columbia, S.C. who was a 4 and 3 winner over Janthamunee.

   In Texas A&M’s quarterfinal victory over Arkansas, Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio rolled to a 4 and 3 win over Kendall Todd, a junior from Goodyear, Ariz., and Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio pulled out a 1-up verdict over Razorbacks veteran Kajal Mistry, a graduate student from South Africa.

   The Aggies’ other full point came from Cernousek, who captured a 5 and 4 decision over Marie Jose Marin, a freshman from Colombia, while Park battled Reagan Zibilski, a sophomore from Springfield, Mo., to a draw to pick up a half-point for Texas A&M.

   The outcome of three days of qualifying for match play set up a fascinating battle in the quarterfinals after South Carolina grabbed the top seed with a 3-under 837 total over the 6,150-yard, par-70 Pelican Golf Club layout and LSU settled for eighth place and the final spot in the match-play bracket with a 21-over 861 total.

   Of course, match play being match play, the Bayou Tigers promptly knocked the top-seeded Gamecocks off with a 3-2 victory.

   Lindblad, the top women’s amateur in the world, set the tone with a 7 and 6 rout of Maylis Lamoure, a freshman from France.

   Tejedo then pulled off a 2 and 1 upset of Hannah Darling, a junior from Scotland and No. 25 in the Women’s WAGR, and Riley also won by a 2 and 1 margin over South Carolina’s Vairana Heck, a freshman from France.

   Louise Rydqvist, the Gamecocks’ veteran junior from Sweden and No. 44 in the Women’s WAGR, earned a 1-up victory over Donegan and Mia Sandtorv Lussand, a sophomore from Norway, captured a 2 and 1 decision over Stone, but it wasn’t enough to get South Carolina through to the semifinals.

   Rydqvist had led the way for South Carolina in stroke play, finishing in second place, three shots behind Lopez Ramirez with a 7-under 203 total.

   Georgia earned its spot in the semifinals with a 3.5-1.5 upset of Auburn fueled by Cowart’s 4 and 3 victory over the Plains Tigers’ Schofill, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, and Lertsadwattana’s hard-fought 1-up win over Casey Weidenfeld, a redshirt sophomore from Pembroke Pines, Fla. and No. 60 in the Women’s WAGR.

   The Bulldogs’ other full point came from the other of its Thai standouts as Tunwannarux pulled out a 1-up victory over Katie Cranston, a sophomore from Canada.

   Auburn’s lone full point came from Anna Davis, the freshman from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR who joined the Plains Tigers in time for the spring semester. Davis, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship as a 16-year-old in 2022, earned a 2-up victory over Georgia’s Don in one of several matchups of players in the Women’s WAGR top 100 during the SEC Championship.

   South Carolina got the jump in qualifying for match play with an opening round of 5-under 275 and never relinquished the lead as the Gamecocks added a 2-over 282 in the second round and matched par in the final round with a 280 for a 3-under 837 total. The three days of stroke play wrapped up on the Sunday of the final round of The Masters.

   Auburn was always in the chase for the top seed in match play as the Plains Tigers opened with a solid 1-under 279 and added a 3-over 283 in the second round that left them five shots behind South Carolina going into the final round. Auburn closed with a 2-under 278 to end up three shots behind the Gamecocks in second place with an even-par 840 total.

   Texas A&M only trailed South Carolina by two shots going into the final round after the Aggies added a 1-over 281 in the second round to their opening round of 1-under 279. Texas A&M closed with a 3-over 283 to finish three shots behind Auburn in third place with a 3-over 843 total.

   Mississippi State, behind individual champion Lopez Ramirez, began its run to the SEC title by finishing five shots behind Texas A&M in fourth place as the Bulldogs matched par in the first and final rounds with a pair of 280s around an 8-over 288 in the second round for an 8-over 848 total.

   Lopez Ramirez finished with a flourish, a sparkling 5-under 65 in the final round that gave her a second straight SEC individual title with a 10-under 200 total. She wasn’t bad in the first two rounds, either adding a 2-under 68 in the second round to her opening round of 3-under 67.

   Rydqvist matched Lopez Ramirez’s final-round 65 to earn runnerup honors in the individual chase and lead South Carolina to the top seed in match play with a 7-under 203 total. Rydqvist had opened with a 2-under 68 and matched par in the second round with a 70.

   Kentucky had the best team score of the final round, a 5-under 275, as the Wildcats finished five shots behind Mississippi State in fifth place with a 13-over 853 total. Kentucky opened with a 6-over 286 and struggled a little in the second round with a 292.

   It was four shots back to Arkansas in sixth place as the Razorbacks struggled to a 292 in the second round after opening with a solid 2-over 282 before closing with a 3-over 283 for a 17-over 857 total.

   Georgia finished in seventh place as the Peachtree Bulldogs added a solid 1-over 281 in the second round to their opening-round 291 before closing with an 8-over 288 for a 20-over 860 total.

   LSU found its groove in the final round with a 2-over 282 as the Bayou Tigers grabbed the final spot in the match-play bracket with a 21-over 861 total that left them a shot behind Georgia in eighth place. LSU had opened with a 5-over 285, but struggled to a 294 in the second round.

   Backing up Rydqvist as South Carolina nailed down the top seed in the match-play bracket was Darling, twice a member of the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team who was coming off a seventh-place finish in the Augusta National Women’s Am a week earlier.

   Darling opened with a solid 3-under 67 and matched par in the second round with a 70 before closing with a 1-over 71 that left her in a tie for sixth place in the individual standings with Texas A&M’s Cernousek at 2-under 208.

   The Gamecocks’ Heck was the picture of consistency as she rattled off three straight 1-over 71s to finish among the trio tied for 17^th place with a 3-over 213 total. Sandtorv Lussand joined Heck in the group at 3-over as she added a 1-over 71 in the second round to her opening round of 1-under 69 before closing with a 73.

   Lamoure rounded out the South Carolina lineup as she finished among a trio of players tied for 47^th place with a 221 total. After opening with a 2-over 72, Lamoure added a 74 in the second round before closing with a 75.

   Kentucky’s Frye had three rounds in the 60s to finish a short behind Rydqvist in third place in the individual chase with a 6-under 204 total. Frye opened with a 2-under 68 and added a 69 in the second round before finishing up with a 67.

   Auburn’s Davis also had three rounds in the 60s as the talented left-hander finished a shot behind Frye in fourth place with a 4-under 206 total. Davis posted back-to-back 1-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 68.

   LSU’s Lindblad, coming off a third-place finish in the Augusta National Women’s Am, finished a shot behind Davis in fifth place with a 3-under 207 total. Lindblad added a 1-under 69 in the second round to her opening-round 68 before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Cernousek sandwiched an even-par 70 in the second round with a pair of 1-under 69s to join Darling in the tie for sixth place, a shot behind Lindblad at 2-under.

   Texas A&M’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Boggio finished in a tie for eighth place with Virginia’s Virginie Ding, a senior from Hong Kong, each landing on even-par 210.

   Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Boggio opened with a sparkling 4-under 66, but backed off in the second round with a 3-over 73 before finishing up with a 71. Ding matched par in the second round with a 70 after opening with a 1-under 69 and then closed with a 1-over 71.

   Rounding out a pretty talented top 10 was Auburn’s Weidenfeld, who was coming off a tie for fifth place in the Augusta National Women’s Am, as she finished alone in 10^th place with a 1-over 211 total. Weidenfeld opened with a solid 2-under 68 and added a 2-over 72 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-over 71.

   Expect to hear the names of a lot of SEC schools when the NCAA regional fields are unveiled at 2 p.m. (Eastern) Wednesday on The Golf Channel. And expect quite a few of them to be in the field when the NCAA Championship tees off May 17 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s Champions Course in Carlsbad, Calif.