Duke was an unlikely semifinalist when the NCAA Championship
got down to the final four last spring at Karsten Creek Golf Club, the home
course of eventual national champion Oklahoma State.
But the Dookies, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat rankings, aren’t sneaking up on anybody this fall. Getting
a pair of 3-under-par 69s from Alex Smalley, a senior from Wake Forest, N.C.,
and Chandler Eaton, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., the Blue Devils edged No. 1
Oklahoma State by two shots Monday to earn the top seed in match play in the
East Lake Cup at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The East Lake Cup brings together the four semifinalists
from the men’s and women’s NCAA Championship the previous spring. It is a
reward for the teams’ solid play last spring and offers a midseason look at the
state of Division I college golf with the fall campaigns wrapping up and the
spring campaign a hundred or so days from starting.
It also gives the four teams some valuable match-play
experience, something that can come in handy if you end up in the final eight
at next spring’s NCAA Championship and that’s exactly where all eight of these
teams are planning to be when match play gets under way at The Blessings Golf
Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Smalley and Eaton helped Duke put together a 3-under 285
while Oklahoma State, led by individual medalist Viktor Hovland, a junior from
Norway and the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, finished two shots behind the
Blue Devils at 1-under 287.
Backing up Smalley and Eaton for Duke was Adrien Pandaries,
a sophomore from France who seemed immune from the pressure of postseason golf
last spring. Pandaries carded a 1-under 71 to finish tied for fourth in the
individual scoring.
The final counter for the Blue Devils was Evan Katz, a
sophomore from Washington, D.C. who posted a 4-over 76. Duke was able to toss a
79 from Shwish Dwivedi, a senior from Redwood City, Calif.
No. 4 Alabama, which fell to Oklahoma State in the NCAA's Final Match on the Cowboys’ home track, finished third Monday with a 5-over 293, six
shots behind Oklahoma State. The Crimson Tide’s Southeast Conference rival
Auburn, which rode the momentum from an epic win over its ancient rival in the
SEC match-play final all the way to the NCAA semifinals last spring, finished
fourth, three shots behind Alabama at 8-over 296.
Duke will take on Auburn in one semifinal Tuesday with
Oklahoma State meeting Alabama in a rematch of last spring’s Final Match in the
other semifinal. The winners will meet for the East Lake Cup title Wednesday.
The Golf Channel is broadcasting the event live and if you haven’t seen
Division I team match play, you’re in for a treat and probably a few tricks.
Hovland, a dominating winner in the U.S. Amateur at the
famed Pebble Beach Golf Links last summer, fired a 4-under 68 over the 7,430-yard,
par-72 East Lake layout to capture individual medalist honors. Hovland is No. 4
in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Joining Duke’s Pandaries in the trio tied for fourth in the
individual standings at 1-under 71 were Alabama’s Davis Shore, a sophomore from
Knoxville, Tenn., and Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat, a sophomore from Edmond,
Okla.
On the women’s side, Stanford, No. 11 in the latest Golfstat rankings, is playing in the
East Lake Cup for the fourth straight year because the Cardinal are always in
the NCAA semifinals.
It appears that this is the first time this fall that all of
Stanford’s top players are completely healthy and it showed Monday as the
Cardinal, led by individual medalist Albane Valenzuela, a junior from
Switzerland, cruised to the top seed for match play with a 2-under 286 total.
The Cardinal’s Pac-12 rival, Southern California, was 10
shots behind Stanford in second at 8-over 296, reigning national champion
Arizona, oh yeah, the No. 15 Wildcats are from the Pac-12, too, is third at
11-over 299 and No. 7 Alabama, playing without its dynamic duo of Kristen
Gillman and Lauren Stephenson, is fourth at 24-over 312.
Valenzuela, No. 5 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR) and the runnerup in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur, fired a 4-under 68
over an East Lake Course that measures 6,127 yards for the ladies to take
medalist honors.
Her teammate, Andrea Lee, a junior from Hermosa Beach,
Calif. and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, finished tied for third with a 1-under
71. Lee has twice been selected to the U.S. Curtis Cup team and was right in the middle of last spring’s
dominating 17-3 victory for the Stars & Stripes over Great Britain &
Ireland at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Aline Krauter, a freshman from Wesley Chapel, Fla., backed
up her two talented teammates by matching par with a 72 and finishing tied for
fifth in the individual standings.
Ziyi Wang, a junior from China, and Mika Liu, a sophomore
from Beverly Hills, Calif., both shot a 3-over 75 and finished in the group
tied for ninth. So, Stanford’s entire lineup finished in the top 10.
Arizona’s Yu-Sang Hou was the runnerup to Valenzuela with a
3-under 69. Joining Stanford’s Lee in the tie for third at 1-under 71 was
Southern California’s Malia Nam, a freshman from Kailua, Hawaii.
Joining Stanford’s Krauter in a tie for fifth at even-par 72
was Arizona’s Bianca Pagdanganan, a senior from the Philippines who played such
a key role in the Wildcats’ run to the national championship last spring.
Stanford will get a shorthanded Alabama in Tuesday’s semifinals
while the two Pac-12 rivals, Southern Cal and Arizona, will go at it in the
other semifinal. The winners will meet for the East Lake Cup title Wednesday.
Alabama’s Gillman, who captured her second U.S. Women’s
Amateur title last summer at the Golf Club of Tennessee, and Stephenson, who
fell in the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, are in the midst of the new
LPGA Q-Series, eight rounds of golf over two weeks at the Pinehurst Resort in
North Carolina.
It looks like there’s a pretty good chance Alabama will lose
Gillman, No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, and Stephenson, No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR,
to the pro ranks between now and the start of the spring campaign.
Like I said when Southern Cal lost Robynn Ree to the pros
under the old LPGA Qualifying School setup a
year ago, you’re recruiting players who you think are talented enough to
make it to the LPGA Tour. You can’t get too upset if they get there a little
ahead of schedule.
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