Fassi, Arkansas too hot to handle for field at Evans Derby Experience

   There was another summit meeting of women’s college golf this week in the Evans Derby Experience hosted by Auburn at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala. and the best of the best once again proved to be Arkansas, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat rankings.

   This was mostly a Southeast Conference and ACC gathering, so none of the Pac-12 powers were involved, but the Razorbacks, once again led by individual champion Maria Fassi, a junior from Mexico, dominated the proceedings in an event that included three other top-10 teams.

   Fassi, No. 22 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), fired an opening salvo with a tidy 8-under-par 64 over the 6,280-yard, par-72 Auburn University Club layout in Sunday’s first round, added a 5-under 67 in the second round and posted a ho-hum 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s final round for a 14-under 202 total.

   It was Fassi’s fifth individual title of the season, making her only the second Arkansas player to win five or more events in a season. The other would be Stacy Lewis. Fassi is now one win away from equaling Lewis’ program record of six in a season accomplished a decade ago. When you’re being mentioned in the same breath as Stacy Lewis when you’re talking Arkansas women’s golf, you’re in rarefied air.

   Fassi will tee it up with Lewis and the rest of the LPGA professionals for the circuit’s first major championship, the ANA Inspiration next week at Mission Hills Country Club’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Fassi was one of six amateur players invited to play in the ANA Inspiration.

   Maybe the scariest thing that happened in the Evans Derby Experience is that Arkansas’ Maria Hoyos, a freshman from Colombia, competed as an individual and was the runnerup to Fassi in the individual standings with a 9-under 207. Hoyos opened with a 5-under 67 and added a pair of 2-under 70s.

   And she had nothing to do with the Razorbacks’ winning team total of 28-under 836.

   Alana Uriell, a senior from Carlsbad, Calif., finished tied for seventh in the individual standings at 5-under 211 after a final-round 70. Kaylee Benton, a junior from Buckeye, Ariz., finished tied for ninth, a shot behind Uriell at 4-under 212 after a final round of even-par 72 that Arkansas was able to toss.

   How’s that possible? Well, the two Razorbacks who finished in the group tied for 28^th at 2-over 218, Dylan Kim, a junior from Plano, Texas, and Cara Gorlei, a junior from South Africa, shared medalist honors for the final day for Arkansas, each carding a 4-under 68. Maybe they were worried about the bid Hoyos is making to join the starting lineup.

   Fassi, who won the individual title by five shots, had the fourth best Arkansas team score with her 1-under 71 in the final round.

   Arkansas opened with an 8-under 280 and trailed No. 31 Florida State, which fired a 10-under 278, by two. But the Razorbacks got it going with a 9-under 279 in Monday’s second round and pulled away with a blistering final round of 11-under 277.

   No. 5 Duke could hardly complain about a 19-under 845 total, highlighted by a 9-under 279 in the second round, but that still left the reigning ACC champion Blue Devils nine shots behind Arkansas in second.

   No. 2 Alabama finished strong with a final round of 10-under 278 to end up in third place at 14-under 850.

    It was another 13 shots back to host Auburn, which carded an even-par 288 in the final round to finish alone in fourth at 1-under 863. Florida State cooled off after that sizzling opening round, posting a final round of 7-over 295 to finish fifth at 1-over 865.

   No. 9 South Carolina and No. 12 Florida, the reigning SEC champion, shared sixth place in the stellar 12-team field at 2-over 866. The Gamecocks posted their second straight 2-over 290 in the final round while the Gators finished up with a 3-under 285.

   Alabama was led by Lauren Stephenson, a junior from Lexington, S.C. who is No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR. Stephenson finished up with a 5-under 67 to get a share of third place with South Carolina’s Ainhoa Olarra, a senior from Spain, at 7-under 209. Olarra opened with a 67 and added a pair of 1-under 71s.

   Sierra Brooks, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. who has given the Florida program a huge boost, shared fifth place with Duke’s Miranda Wang, a redshirt freshman from China, at 6-under 210. Brooks, who transferred from Wake Forest and became eligible for the spring semester, fired three straight 70s while Wang finished up with a 70 after rounds of 71 and 69.

   Joining Arkansas’ Uriell in the tie for seventh at 5-under 211 was Duke’s Jaravee Boonchant, a freshman from Thailand, one of many talented freshmen populating the women’s college scene this season. Boonchant opened with rounds of 2-under 70 and 3-under 69 before leveling off with an even-par 72 in the final round.

   Boonchant’s teammate, Leona Maguire, a senior from Ireland, was another shot back in the group tied for ninth at 4-under 212 that included Arkansas’ Benton and Alabama’s Angelica Moresco, a freshman from Italy.

   Maguire, a two-time winner of the Annika Award, was recently supplanted as the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR by UCLA’s Lilia Vu. No. 2 in the world isn’t bad, though. She was typically steady at the Auburn University Club, sandwiching a 2-under 70 in the second round with a pair of 1-under 71s.

   Moresco outshined some of her veteran Alabama teammates, opening with a 72 and adding a pair of 2-under 70s.

   One thing to watch with Duke, which played a winning tournament only to run into a buzzsaw in Arkansas, is the status of Virginia Elena Carta, a junior from Italy who apparently is trying to recover from an injury and get back on the course.

    Duke brought Carta along to the Evans Derby Experience and hoped she could compete as an individual. But once she got there, Carta withdrew. Not sure if she gave it a go or not.

   All Carta did two years ago as a freshman was win the individual title in the NCAA Championship and later that summer reach the final of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club before falling on the 36^th hole to South Korean teen Eun Jeong Seong. So a healthy Carta would certainly be a nice addition to the lineup for the Blue Devils.