With the once and future U.S. Curtis Cup teammates, UCLA’s
Mariel Galdiano, a sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii, and Stanford’s Andrea
Lee, a sophomore from Hermosa Beach, Calif., among the three players tied for
the lead after the opening round of the San Francisco Regional, the NCAA
regionals got off to a rousing start all over the country Monday.
Galdiano and Lee will be the lone holdovers from the 2016
U.S. team that fell to Great Britain & Ireland when the Curtis Cup Match is
contested on home turf next month at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Monday, though, they were rivals on two of the best college programs in the
country in the opening round at TPC Harding Park.
A year ago, Galdiano and the Bruins were the hottest team in
the country going into the Lubbock Regional, but failed to advance to the NCAA
Championship. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen again.
Galdiano, the qualifying medalist in the 2016 U.S. Women’s
Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield,
fired a 6-under-par 66 over the 6,369-yard, par-72 Harding Park layout, the San
Francisco municipal course lovingly restored to its classic roots.
She led UCLA, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings and the top seed in San Francisco, to the
opening-round lead with a sizzling 8-under 280 team total.
No. 16 Kent State and No. 26 Colorado are tied for second at
4-under 284. No. 5 Stanford, the second seed playing close to its Palo Alto
base, is tied for fourth with No. 32 Louisville and No. 56 Oregon at 1-under
287. Four of the top six, led by conference champion UCLA, are from the
powerful Pac-12.
Brynn Walker, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at
Radnor, and No. 24 North Carolina got off to a solid start, its 1-over 289
giving it a share of seventh with No. 46 San Diego State. The Tar Heels are
just five shots out of second place.
Backing up Galdiano’s 66 for UCLA was Thailand’s Patty
Tavatanakit, maybe the best of a fabulous freshman class throughout Division I
women’s golf. Tavatanakit, the No. 9 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR), is alone in fourth at 4-under 68, two shots behind the trio
tied for first.
Lilia Vu, a junior from Fountain Valley, Calif. and the No.
1 player in the Women’s WAGR, is in the group tied for 10th at
1-under 71. Vu will also represent the U.S. in the Curtis Cup at Quaker Ridge.
Clare Legaspi, a sophomore from the Philippines, is among the group tied for 52nd
as her 3-over 75 was the final counter for UCLA. Beth Wu, a junior from Diamond
Bar, Calif., rounded out the UCLA lineup with a 76.
Stanford’s Lee, the No. 5 player in the Women’s WAGR,
matched Galdiano’s 66. The two Curtis Cuppers are joined at the top of the
individual leaderboard by Colorado’s Brittany Fan, a senior from, get this,
Pearl City, Hawaii. Pearl City can’t be a big enough town that Galdiano and Fan
didn’t occasionally run into each other on the golf course growing up, can it?
North Carolina was led by its freshman standout, Ava Bergner
of Germany, who is in the group tied for fifth at 2-under 70. Kelly Whaley, a
junior from Farmington, Conn., is in the group tied for 10th at
1-under 71.
It was a solid start for Walker, a sophomore and the best of
a crop of outstanding female players produced by District One in the last 15
years. She carded an even-par 72 and is in the group tied for 25th.
Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., is in the group
tied for 61st with the Tar Heels’ final counter, a 4-over 76.
Rounding out the North Carolina lineup was Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St.
Petersburg, Fla. who is in the group tied for 83rd with a 79.
At the Madison Regional, Penn State junior Cara Basso, the
2012 PIAA Class AA champion at Villa Maria Academy competing as an individual,
carded a solid 2-over 74 over the 6,313-yard, par-72 University Ridge Golf
Course layout that left her in the group tied for 43rd.
With Beth Lillie, a freshman from Fullerton, Calif., leading
the way, No. 31 Virginia jumped out to a four-shot lead over ACC rival Duke,
ranked fourth and the top seed in Madison, by four shots.
The Cavaliers fired a 9-under 279 behind Lillie, who gained
a share of the individual lead with Wisconsin’s Gabby Curtis, a senior from
Altoona, Wis. playing on her home course, with a 5-under 67.
ACC champion Duke carded a 5-under 283. The Dookies did that
despite tossing the 2-over 74 posted by senior Leona Maguire, the Irish woman
who is No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR and is a two-time Annika Award winner. Pretty
sure her score will count for Duke in Tuesday’s second round.
No. 6 Southern California, seeded second in Madison, is two
shots behind the Blue Devils in third at 3-under 285. Reigning national
champion Arizona State, ranked 12th, is fourth at even-par 288. No.
53 Oregon State made it a third Pac-12 entry in the top five as the Beavers are
a shot behind Arizona State at 1-over 289.
No. 47 Notre Dame, with another PIAA Class AAA champion in
its lineup, junior Isabella DiLisio, a Mount St. Joseph product, is in 14th
place after posting an 11-over 299.
Backing up Lillie for the Cavaliers was Katharine Patrick, a
junior from Houston, Texas who is tied for fifth after opening with a 3-under
69. Anna Redding, a junior from Concord, N.C., carded a 2-under 70 and is in the
group tied for seventh.
Virginia’s final counter came from Morgan Gonzales, a junior
from Chandler, Ariz. who is in the group tied for 26th at 1-over 73.
Rounding out the Virginia lineup was Julia Ford, a sophomore from Shrewsbury,
Mass. who is in the group tied for 76th
with a 78.
Lurking a shot behind the co-leaders in the individual chase
is Duke’s Virginia Elena Carta, a junior from Italy and the runaway winner of
the NCAA individual title two years ago at Eugene Country Club. Carta, the No.
25 player in the Women’s WAGR, fired a 4-under 68 to share third place with
Oregon State’s Nicole Schroeder, a sophomore from Rocklin, Calif.
Sharing fifth with Virginia’s Patrick at 3-under 69 was
Southern Cal’s Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii.
Leading the way for Notre Dame was Emma Albrecht, a junior
from Ormond Beach, Fla. who is in the group tied for 26th with a
1-over 73. Maddie Rose Hamilton, a junior from Louisville, Ky., carded a 2-over
74 and is in the group tied for 43rd along with Penn State’s Basso.
Abby Heck, a freshman from Memphis, Tenn., is another shot behind Hamilton in
the group tied for 52nd at 3-over 75.
Mia Ayer, a sophomore from Waco, Texas, was the final
counter for the Irish with a 77 that left her in the group tied for 66th.
DiLisio, who was a state champion in 2013 as a junior at the Mount, struggled at
the University Ridge layout with an opening-round 88 that left her alone in 95th
place.
In the Tallahassee Regional, a trio of players who were
freshmen on Washington’s 2016 national championship team, blitzed the field at
the Don Veller Seminole Golf Club to help the Huskies grab the lead with a team-record 15-under
283.
Leading the way was Wenyung Keh, a junior from New Zealand,
who fired a scintillating 9-under 63 over the 6,342-yard, par-72 Don Veller
Seminole layout to take a two-shot lead in the individual standings. And yes,
that too is a Washington single-round record.
No. 7 Furman, seeded second in Tallahassee, is seven shots
behind Washington in second at 8-under 280 and No. 2 Alabama, the top seed, is
another two shots behind the Paladins in third at 6-under 282.
Three teams – No. 18 Wake Forest, No. 29 Clemson and No. 39
Tennessee – are tied fourth at 3-under 285.
The two other holdovers from Washington’s national title
team, Sarah Rhee, a junior form Seattle, and Julianne Alvarez, a junior and
Keh’s fellow New Zealander, also landed in the top 10. Rhee is part of a
three-way tie for third after a 5-under 67 while Alvarez is in the group tied
for 10th at 2-under 70.
Washington’s final counter came from Rino Sasaki, a freshman
from Japan who is in the group tied for 33rd at 1-over 73. Sasaki’s
countrywoman, Karen Miyamoto, a sophomore, rounded out the Washington lineup as
her 78 left her in the group tied for76th.
Furman’s Natalie Srinivasan, a sophomore from Spartanburg,
S.C., got off to a pretty hot start herself, although her sparkling 7-under 65
left her shots behind Keh in second.
Joining Washington’s Rhee in the tie for third at 5-under 67
were Alabama’s Lauren Stephenson, a junior form Lexington, S.C. and the No. 6
player in the Women’s WAGR, and Tennessee’s Micheala Williams, a sophomore from
Athens, Ala. Stephenson will also represent the Red, White & Blue in next
month’s Curtis Cup Match.
Georgia’s Jillian Hollis, a junior from Rocky River, Ohio
and the No. 24 player in the Women’s WAGR, is alone in sixth after firing a
4-under 68.
In the Austin Regional, No. 8 Texas, seeded second, used its
home-course advantage at The University of Texas Golf Club to grab the
opening-round lead with a 7-under 281.
The Big 12 champion Longhorns are being chased by two other
conference champions. Southeast Conference champion Arkansas, ranked No. 3 and
the top seed, is three shots behind Texas in second at 4-under 284 and Big Ten champion Michigan
State, ranked 11th, was another shot behind the Razorbacks in third
at 3-under 285.
No. 54 Virginia Tech and No. 35 Baylor are tied for fourth
at even-par 288 and No. 41 Brigham Young and No. 14 Florida are tied for sixth
at 3-over 291. As with the three other regionals, the top six teams and the top
three individuals not associated with the advancing teams move on to the NCAA
Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
Texas was led by its leader, senior Sophia Schubert, the
reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Oak Ridge, Tenn. who fired a
3-under on her 6,341-yard, par-72 home course to join a group of four players
tied for second. Schubert, the No. 21 player in the Women’s WAGR, is also a
member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team.
The Longhorns’ fabulous freshman, Kaitlyn Papp, a home girl
from Austin, Texas, and Greta Isabella Voelker, a sophomore from Germany, are
in a group of nine players tied for sixth at 2-under 70. Emilee Hoffman, a
sophomore from Folsom, Calif., was Texas’ final counter as she joined the group
tied for 23rd with an even-par 72.
The Longhorns’ other freshman, Agathe Laisne, the reigning
European Ladies champion from France, was another shot behind Hoffman in the
group tied for 32nd at 1-over 73.
Leading the individual chase is Maddie Szeryk, Texas
A&M’s outstanding sophomore from Allen, Texas who fired a 4-under 68.
Heading the trio tied with Texas’ Schubert for second at
3-under 69 is SEC champion Maria Fassi, a junior from Mexico and the No. 18
player in the Women’s WAGR.
Rounding out that foursome at 3-under are Houston’s Megan
Thothong, a senior form Dallas, and Baylor’s Gurleen Kaur, a freshman from
Houston. The Texans seem to like this golf course.
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