UCLA, as I’m sure it has been reminded more than a few
times, didn’t make it this far a year ago.
The Bruins were the hottest team in the country going into
the regionals and then suddenly their season was over. The addition of the best
freshman in the country, Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, has certainly helped,
but the holdovers from that team weren’t going to allow a repeat of a year ago.
A runnerup finish to Pac-12 rival Stanford in the San
Francisco Regional earned UCLA a ticket to the NCAA Championship at Karsten
Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. and with four players bettering par
Saturday, the Bruins, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, took command after two rounds of stroke-play qualifying.
UCLA fired a sparkling 9-under-par 279 over the 6,328-yard,
par-72 Karsten Creek layout for a two-day total of 3-under 573. The Pac-12
champion Bruins, who opened with a 6-over 294 Friday, are the only team under
par after two rounds.
Alabama, the team that overtook UCLA for the No. 1 ranking
heading into the NCAA Championship, is a solid second, the Crimson Tide posting
a 2-under 286 that left them at 2-over 278.
It’s 11 more shots back to No. 6 Southern California in
third at 13-over 589. The Trojans, with four freshmen in their lineup, took the
opening-round lead with a 3-over 291 and backed off a little with a 10-over 298
Saturday.
No. 13 Northwestern, which fell in the Final Match at Rich
Harvest Farms a year ago, and No. 9 Arizona are tied for fourth at 16-over 592,
three shots behind Southern Cal. The Chicago Wildcats added a 5-over 293 to
their opening-round 299 while the Desert Wildcats fired a solid 3-over 291
after opening with a 301.
No. 21 Florida State, behind some excellent play from its
senior Metraux sisters, and No. 16 Kent State are tied for sixth at 19-over
595, another three shots behind Northwestern and Arizona. The Seminoles added a
6-over 294 to their opening-round 301 while the Flashes added a 299 to their
opening-round 296.
Kent State was part of the afternoon wave that had to endure
a two-hour weather delay before finishing its second round in the early
evening.
Two powerhouse programs are sitting right behind Florida
State and Kent State as No. 4 Duke, the ACC champion and Madison Regional
winner, is eighth at 20-over 596 and No. 5 Stanford, the San Francisco Regional
winner, is ninth at 599. The Blue Devils posted a second straight 10-over 298
while the Cardinal picked it up after struggling to a 308 in the opening round
with a 3-over 291 Saturday.
Rounding out the top 10 is No. 25 Louisville, which added a
300 to its opening-round 301 for a 25-over 601 total.
The top 15 teams after Sunday’s third round advance to
Monday’s final round. The top eight teams after Monday will advance to the
match-play quarterfinals Tuesday.
And a couple of really good teams have some work to do,
particularly No. 2 Arkansas, the Southeastern Conference champion and Austin
Regional winner. The Razorbacks are tied for 16th at 608. A good
round will get them to Monday’s final round, but they are 12 shots out of
eighth place and that’s where they want to get.
No. 8 Texas, the runnerup to Arkansas on its home course in
the Austin Regional, is another shot behind the Razorbacks in 18th
place at 609.
UCLA was led by its top two players, Lilia Vu, a junior from
Fountain Valley, Calif. and the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR), and Tavatanakit, No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR.
Vu matched the low round of the day with a 4-under 68 that
left her alone in fourth place, just a shot behind the three co-leaders in the
individual standings at 4-under 140. Vu had opened with an even-par 72.
Tavatanakit, the Pac-12 and Stanford Regional individual
winner, carded a second straight 1-under 71 and is tied with Florida State’s
Metraux sisters at 2-under 142.
The Bruins got a strong showing from Mariel Galdiano, a
sophomore from Pearl City, Calif. who fired a 3-under 69 and is tied for 11th
at even-par 144. Beth Wu, a junior from Diamond Bar, Calif., was the fourth
Bruin to break par Saturday as she carded a 1-under 71 and is tied for 24th
at 3-over 147.
Rounding out the UCLA lineup was Clare Legaspi, a sophomore
from the Philippines who added a 75 to her opening-round 79 and is in the group
tied for 77th at 154.
Vu and Galdiano, the qualifying medalist in the 2016 U.S.
Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club, will also be teammates on the U.S.
team when it takes on Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup Match next
month at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Galdiano and Wu -- that’s right, Beth Wu, not Lilia Vu -- were both
members of the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team that fell to GB&I at Dun Laoghaire
Golf Club in suburban Dublin. Both gained the kind of match-play experience playing
in front of a hostile crowd in Ireland that should make them tough if the
Bruins make it to the final eight Tuesday.
Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, a junior from Westminster,
Colo. and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, couldn’t quite keep up the torrid pace she
established with a spectacular opening round of 8-under 64. But a 3-over 75
still kept her tied for the lead in the individual chase at 5-under 139.
Kupcho will also wear the Stars & Stripes at Quaker
Ridge.
She was joined atop the individual standings by Alabama’s
Cheyenne Knight, a junior from Aledo, Texas, and Arizona’s Bianca Pagdanganan,
a junior from the Philippines.
Knight is No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, one of three Alabama
players among the top 14 amateur players on the planet. She added a 3-under 69
to her opening-round 70 to help Alabama, the Tallahassee Regional winner, stay
in the hunt for team medalist honors in qualifying.
Pagdanganan matched the low round of the day with a 4-under
68 after opening with a 1-under 71.
Joining Tavatanakit in the group tied for fifth at 2-under
are Florida State’s Morgane and Kim Metraux. They’re both seniors from Switzerland.
They are sisters. Can’t figure out if they’re twins, but they might be.
I do know they are playing some pretty good golf at Karsten
Creek. Morgane had opened with a 2-under 70 and added an even-par 72. Kim
opened with a 1-over 73, but captured low-Metraux honors for the day by three
shots with her 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round.
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