Duke claims the title as rain cancels final round of The Landfall Tradition

   Mother Nature called a halt to Round 6 of what has been entertaining couple of meetings between Duke, No. 4 in the latest Golfstat rankings, and No. 2 Alabama that has played out in a couple different locations in North Carolina this month.

   I managed to put together a post following round 2 of The Landfall Tradition, which had an outstanding 18-team field teeing it up at the Country Club of Landfall’s Dye Course in Wilmington, N.C.

   Duke had grabbed a one-shot lead over Alabama Friday with an 11-under 277 and kept a one-shot advantage as both the Blue Devils and the Crimson Tide carded a 3-under 285 in the second round. Duke was at 14-under 562, Alabama at 13-under 563. Michigan State was 11 shots behind Alabama in third at 2-under 574.

   Almost anything can happen in golf, but this sure looked like it was going to be a Sunday shootout between two of the top programs in women’s college golf.

   The field was ready to commence with the final round before it became obvious that course conditions were deteriorating and there was no end in sight for the rain.

   Two weeks ago Duke took a 10-shot advantage over Alabama into the final round of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course. The Crimson Tide unleashed a spectacular 18-under 270 in the final round and Duke responded with a 9-under 279 to hold on for a one-shot victory. The Blue Devils were 31-under, the Crimson Tide 30-under.

   So this weekend will go into the books as another one-shot victory for the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Blue Devils over Alabama. A quick perusal of the two schools’ websites provides one bit of good news. Both will open the spring portion of their schedules in the Northrop-Grumann Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Feb. 11 to 13.

   I ran down the Duke lineup when I rounded up round 2 of the Landfall early Sunday morning since the  Blue Devils had the lead and I mentioned Alabama’s top two of Lauren Stephenson, a junior from Lexington, S.C., and Kristen Gillman, a sophomore  from Austin, Texas, who were tied for third and tied for fifth, respectively, in the individual standings.

   Backing up those two for Alabama was Cheyenne Knight, a junior from Aledo, Texas who ended up tied for 11^th at 1-under 143. Knight, who is part of any discussion of the best players in women’s college golf, added a 1-over 73 to her opening round of 2-under 70.

   Angelica Moresco, a freshman from Italy, finished tied for 18^th at 1-over 145. She had a 2-under 70 Saturday after opening up with a 75. Alabama’s top four of Stephenson, Gillman, Knight and Lakareber Abe, a senior from Angleton, Texas, are known quantities. Moresco could prove to be a crucial addition to the lineup when the postseason arrives next spring.

   Abe finished tied for 28^th in the Landfall with rounds of 72 and 75 for a 3-over 147 total. Nicole Morales, a senior from Salem, N.Y., competed as an individual and finished tied for 39^th with rounds of 73 and 76 for a 5-over 149 total.

   Duke also ended up with an individual champion at the Landfall as Ana Belac, a sophomore from Slovenia, was declared the co-champion along with Virginia’s Beth Lillie, a freshman from Fullerton, Calif., as they ended up at 9-under 135.

   Belac had grabbed the individual lead with an opening round of 6-under 66 and added a 3-under 69 Saturday. The scary thing is she may be Duke’s fifth best player. The Blue Devils tossed rounds of 76 and 77 posted by junior Virginia Elena Carta, a junior from Italy. Carta, who captured the NCAA individual title as a freshman in the spring of 2016, is No. 20 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

   I cut off the individual standings in my round 2 post with Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham alone in eighth place at 3-under 141. So I thought I’d look through another dozen or so and offer  some thoughts that come up as I do.

   Oklahoma State’s fifth-place finish was fueled by strong showings by two seniors, Maddie McCrary of Wylie, Texas and Kenzie Neisen of New Prague, Minn.

   McCrary shared ninth place with Duke’s Leona Maguire, a senior from Ireland and the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, at 2-under 142. McCrary followed up an opening-round 74 with a 4-under 68 on a day when the scores were generally higher than in round 1.

   Neisen was another shot behind McCray in a group of four players tied for 11^th at 1-under 143. Neisen carded a 1-under 71 Saturday after matching par in the opening round with a 72. Oklahoma State certainly validated its No. 6 ranking, particularly in round 2 when the Cowgirls ripped off a 12-under 276 that left them at 4-over 580.

   Also in that group tied for 11^th at 1-under 143 was Michigan State’s Paz Marfa Sans, a sophomore from Spain. In addition to Burnham, a senior from Maple Grove, Minn., and Marfa Sans, the Spartans had a third player in the top 20 as Allyson Geer, a sophomore from Brighton, Mich., finished in a group of three players tied for 15^th at even-par 144.

   Marfa Sans added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 70 while Geer had a 73 Saturday after opening with a 1-under 71.

   It added up to a third-place finish for the reigning Big Ten champion. The Spartans were the only team besides Duke and Alabama to finish under par as they were at 2-under 574.

   The Spartans’ chief rival in the Big Ten, Northwestern, which reached the final match in the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms last spring before falling to Arizona State, will tee it up in the East Lake Cup Monday.

   The match-play semifinalists among the men and women from Rich Harvest Farms will play a one-day medal round Monday and then play matches Tuesday and Wednesday. And The Golf Channel will televise it. College golf in the middle of football season. What a concept.

   Alabama’s Knight was also in the group at 1-under 143 and rounding out that foursome tied for 11^th was Purdue’s Covadonga SanJuan, a junior from Spain. She was one of two Boilers in the top 20 as Micaela Farah, a sophomore from Peru, finished in a group of five players tied for 18^th at 1-over 145.

SanJuan had opened up strong with a 3-under 69, but fell back with a 2-over 74. Farah opened with a 2-under 70 before posting a 3-over 75 Saturday. A second-round 298 left the 17th-ranked Boilers in ninth place at 588.

   I mentioned in my post from round 1 of the Landfall that I’ve kept tabs on Purdue since the beginning of this blog when I was following the progress of 2010 PIAA champion Aurora Kan of Chichester. Some of the young players on Kan’s final Purdue team, SanJuan among them, two years ago are now the leaders this year and it just might be the strongest Purdue team since Kan’s sophomore season when the Boilers finished third in the pre-match play NCAA Tournament behind Southern California and Duke.

   LSU outperformed its No. 96 ranking as the Tigers finished tied for sixth with No. 8 Furman at 582. LSU had a pair of top-20 finishers as Claudia De Antonio, a senior from Venezuela, was in the trio tied for 15^th at even-par 144 and Sydney Cavin, a senior from Baton Rouge, La., was in the five-player logjam tied for 18^th at 1-over 145.

   De Antonio followed up an opening-round 74 with a 2-under 70 while Cavin also had a 2-under 70 Saturday after opening with a 75. Look for the Tigers to trend upward in the rankings.

   The third member of that group tied for 15^th at even-par 144 along with LSU’s De Antonio and Michigan State’s Geer was UNC-Wilmington’s Thao My Nguyen, a senior from Vietnam. The host school’s Nguyen opened with a 1-under 71 and added a second-round 73. She helped the No. 81 Seahawks finish 10^th in the team standings at 590.

   The fifth member of the group tied for 18^th at 1-over 145 along with Duke’s Miranda Wang, Alabama’s Moresco, LSU’s Cavin and Purdue’s Farah was Clemson’s Ana Paula Valdes, a sophomore from Mexico. Valdes matched par Saturday with a 72 after opening with a 73.

   I wrapped up the performances of Penn State and Notre Dame in my post on round 2. Both had strong fall campaigns, but both got a close look at the Landfall at the kind of competition they’ll be facing in the spring if they want to earn an invitation to the NCAA regionals.

   I’ve mentioned before, there are no guarantees that the teams we saw this fall will be intact when the spring portion of the schedule commences in February. Somebody’s going to lose a player to the LPGA. A European player is going to get homesick and head back to the continent.

   But the road to the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State’s home course, certainly looks like it will be a fascinating one.