Team Delaware surges to runnerup finish in USGA Women's State Team Championship

   Phoebe Brinker and Jennifer Cleary both had pretty good summers, the Wilmington teens earning spots in national events and playing well on some big stages.

   But the 15-year-old Brinker of Archmere Academy and the 16-year Cleary of Tower Hill might have really come of age in leading Delaware to a spectacular runnerup finish in the final USGA Women’s State Team Championship, which wrapped up Thursday at The Club at Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe, N.M.

   Brinker and Cleary were joined by 16-year-old Esther Park of The Charter of Wilmington to form the youngest team in the field.

   Brinker matched par in Tuesday’s opening round to lead Delaware to an 8-over 152. Cleary struggled to an 80 while Park carded an 82.

   But Cleary really got it going in the second round, which didn’t conclude until Thursday morning. She fired a 5-under 67 while Brinker again matched par with a 72. Delaware’s 5-under 139 was the best team round of the tournament and put the First State right in the thick of the team competition.

   Brinker completed an amazing individual performance with a 4-under 68 Thursday as Delaware tied with New Jersey for the low round in round 3 at 141 for an even-par 432 total that left it just a shot behind team champion Tennessee, another team that featured three teen-agers.

   Brinker finished second in the individual scoring, her 4-under 212 total just two shots behind individual medalist Julia Potter of Indiana.

   Potter, the left-hander who claimed her second U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship last fall at The Kahkwa Club in Erie, had three straight 70s to claim the gold medal at 6-under 210. She led Indiana to a tie for fifth in the team standings with New York at 438.

   After that so-so first round, Cleary was nearly as spectacular as Brinker was. Cleary’s final-round 73 left her alone in 14^th place in the individual standings at 4-over 220.

   Park had her best round in the suspended middle round as she posted a 79 before finishing up with an 81 that gave her 242 total. Delaware was able to toss her score in all three rounds, but she was right there, supporting her teammates and grinding out her rounds for a team that finished second in the country.

   Far from being intimidated by the situation they found themselves in Thursday at Las Campanas, Brinker and Cleary seemed to embrace the spotlight. The confidence boost they’ll get from their performance against a field of top juniors, recent college graduates and some of the top mid-am and senior players in the country will make them tough customers next summer.

   “I played really solid golf all three days, so that felt good,” Brinker told the USGA website. “Then with Jen shooting a 67 the second day, that definitely boosted us up the leaderboard. That felt good.”

   Tennessee was led by Riley Rennell, the veteran of its group at 19. Rennell of Columbia got Tennessee going with her opening-round 68 and closed with a solid 1-under 71 as she finished tied for seventh in the individual scoring at even-par 216.

   But when Rennell stumbled a little with a 77 in the second round, 16-year-old Ashley Gilliam of Manchester fired a 5-under 67 and 16-year-old Jayna Choi of Collierville counted with her 75.

   Gilliam added an even-par 72 to Rennell’s 71 in the final round to give Tennessee a 1-under 143 for a 1-under 431 total that was one shot better than the equally precocious kids from Delaware.

   Florida, led by Meghan Stasi, the 39-year-old South Jersey native who has won four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and eight Philadelphia Women’s Amateur championships, finished third, a shot behind Delaware at 1-over 433.

   Stasi, who lives in Oakland Park where she’s in the restaurant business with her husband, matched par in the final round with a 72 and 13-year-old phenom Alexa Pano of Lake Worth added a 73 as the Sunshine State posted a final round of 1-over 145.

   Florida also got a strong showing from 44-year-old Tara Joy-Connelly, a dominant  player on the  Massachusetts amateur scene before relocating to North Palm Beach. In the final individual standings, Stasi finished tied for ninth at 1-over 217 and Pano and Connelly were both in the group tied for 11^th at 3-over 219.

   New Jersey matched Delaware for the best total of the final round as Noelle Maertz, a former collegiate standout at Wagner from Clark, fired a 2-under 70 to help the Garden State post a 3-under 141. That left it tied for 10^th with North Carolina and Virginia at 445.

   Kelly Sim, a senior at the Academy of the Holy Angels in North Jersey, added a 1-under 71 in the final round. Tara Fleming, coming off a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Waverly Country Club in Portland, Ore., was a counter the first two days and finished up with a 76.

   Pennsylvania did manage to make the cut and finished 20^th of the 21 teams that played the final round. The Keystone State was led by reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion Katie Miller of Jeannette, who had a final-round 77 and was tied for 19^th in the individual standings at 6-over 222.

   Pennsylvania also got a 77 from Aurora Kan, the former Chichester and Purdue standout, to give it a final-round 154 and a 459 total.

   Katrin Wolfe, the head of athletics compliance at Pitt-Johnstown, rounded out Team Pennsylvania.

   The USGA Women’s State Team Championship began in 1995 with a victory for Pennsylvania with the trio of the incomparable Carol Semple Thompson, Liz Haines and Judy Oliver. Pennsylvania’s next best finish was two years ago when Kan, then Radnor High senior Brynn Walker and Ellen Ceresko finished second at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

   Before Thursday, Delaware’s previous best finish was 32^nd in the inaugural edition 22 years ago. Thursday’s silver medal is a pretty nice silver lining for the Team Delaware crew of Brinker, Cleary and Park in the swan song for a neat USGA event.

   By the way, Potter will get a chance to defend her U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship. The event was originally scheduled to be played next week at Quail Creek Country Club in Naples, Fla.,  but the course was rendered unplayable by the ravages of Hurricane Irma and there were fears that the event would have to be cancelled altogether.

   But it was announced this week that Champions Golf Club in Houston will play host to the postponed U.S. Women’s Mid-Am beginning Nov. 11. Hit hard by Hurricane Harvey itself, Champions’ Cypress Creek Course quickly recovered and will be in shape in time to host the Women’s Mid-Am.