Stormo helps Kent State hold off Arkansas to take team title in Lady Puerto Rico Classic

   Two of the premier programs in the country dueled this week in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic with Kent State, No. 11 in the latest Golfstat rankings, pulling out a four-shot victory over No. 7 Arkansas, the reigning Southeastern Conference champion.

   The Golden Flashes, behind individual co-champion Karoline Stormo, a junior from Norway, showed the kind of class that has enabled them to be one of the last eight teams standing for match play in the NCAA Championship each of the last two springs.

   Kent State trailed Arkansas by three shots after carding a 4-over-par 292 in Sunday’s opening round over Rio Mar Country Club’s 6,164-yard, par-72 River Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. But the Golden Flashes inched ahead of the Razorbacks by five shots by matching par in the second round with a 288 and then carded a solid 2-under 286 in Tuesday’s final round for a 2-over 866 total.

   Kent State had opened its spring season last week by sharing second with Miami behind UCF Challenge champion Vanderbilt.

   Rain and wind made for tough conditions for Monday’s second round and it sounds like it was still a little showery for Tuesday’s final round. Arkansas opened with a 1-over 289, slipped back a little with an 8-over 296 and equaled the best team round of the day Tuesday and for the tournament with a 3-under 285. But the Razorbacks’ 6-over 870 total wasn’t quite enough to catch Kent State.

   It was the spring opener for Arkansas with the 2018-’19 season concluding on the Razorbacks’ home course, The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. One of women’s college golf’s elite teams throughout the 2017-’18 season, the Razorbacks fell one excruciating shot short of joining the playoff for the final spot in match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

   It was eight shots back to third place as No. 59 Virginia Tech carded a solid 1-over 289 in the final round for a 14-over 878 total. Perennial Big Ten power Northwestern, ranked 13^th, was a shot behind Virginia Tech in fourth at 15-over 879. The Wildcats matched Arkansas for the low round of the tournament with  Tuesday’s 3-under 285.

   No. 63 East Carolina, with Stormo’s fellow Norwegian, Dorthea Forbrigd, sharing the individual title to lead the way for the Pirates, finished in fifth place at 18-over 882, three shots behind Northwestern. East Carolina finished up with a 6-over 294.

   No. 21 TCU was a shot behind East Carolina in sixth at 19-over 883 after a solid final round of 4-over 292.

   No. 29 Purdue, the host of the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, was four shots behind TCU in seventh place at 23-over 887, the Boilermakers struggling to a final-round 299. Another SEC entry, No. 35 Georgia, was eighth in the 14-team field at 26-over 890 after a final-round 298.

   Stormo, coming off a tie for second in a strong showing in the UCF Challenge, had quite a battle with her countrywoman Forbrigd for the individual title. Forbrigd opened with the low round of the week, a 5-under 67 Sunday, with Stormo not far behind with a 3-under 69.

   Stormo caught up with Forbrigd with a 1-under 71 in the second round as Forbigd carded a 1-over 73 and both finished strong, each carding a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s final round to share individual honors at 7-under 209.

   Backing up Stormo for Kent State was another of the program’s stalwarts, Pimnipa Panthong, a junior from Thailand and No. 19 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Panthong matched her teammates’ final round of 3-under 69 to get a share of fourth place in the individual standings at even-par 216.

   Another Kent State veteran, Michaela Finn, a senior from Sweden and No. 45 in the Women’s WAGR, and a newcomer, freshman Thitapa Pakdeesettakul, were among the group tied for 27^th place at 7-over 223. Finn matched par in the final round with her second straight 72 while Pakdeesettakul – Kent State doesn’t list where she’s from, but I’m guessing she’s a countrywoman of Panthong’s – finished up with a 76.

   Rounding out the Kent State lineup was home girl Kory Nielsen, a sophomore from Kent, Ohio who finished tied for 54^th place at 12-over 228. Nielsen struggled in the final round with a 79, but her opening-round 74 and her second-round 75 with both counters and every shot counts when you’re battling a team like Arkansas.

   Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar, a sophomore from Australia, finished alone in third place, four shots behind the individual co-champions at 3-under 213. Mahar matched par in the opening round with a 72 and was one shot better in the next two rounds with a 1-under 71 and a closing 2-under 70.

   Mahar’s teammate, Elizabeth Bose, a senior from Norfolk, Va., fired a final round of 1-under 71 to join the group tied for fourth place at even-par 216.

   Heading that trio at 216 was reigning Annika Award winner Maria Fassi, a senior at Arkansas. Fassi, No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, matched par in the final round with a 72.

   Fassi arrived in Fayetteville for the 2016 spring campaign and immediately filled a huge hole in the program left by the departure of her countrywoman from Mexico, Gaby Lopez, for the LPGA Tour. They were big shoes to fill – Lopez became just the second Mexican player besides the great Lorena Ochoa to win on the LPGA Tour last fall – but Fassi never blinked.

   Fassi was good enough to qualify for the LPGA Tour when she finished 32^nd in last fall’s LPGA Q-Series, an eight-round marathon over two weeks on two different courses at the Pinehurst Resort. But she took advantage of the LPGA’s offer to defer accepting her Tour card until the summer.

   It will mean a delayed start to her professional career, but with the NCAA Championship at Arkansas’ home course combined with last spring’s near miss at Karsten Creek, it seems Fassi couldn’t pass up the chance to write a different ending to her college career.

   Fassi’s Arkansas teammate, Kaylee Benton, a senior from Buckeye, Ariz., shared seventh place with North Carolina State’s Monika Hartl, a sophomore from Germany, at 1-over 217.

   Benton crashed the Alabama party in the U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals at The Golf Club of Tennessee last summer. And she gave Kristen Gillman, who would go on to win the championship, all Gillman wanted before falling on the 19^th hole. Gillman had to drop a 20-footer for bogey on the 18^th green to extend the match.

   After opening with a 1-under 71 over the River Course at Rio Mar, Benton posted a pair of 1-over 73s to land at 1-over. Hartl opened with a 76 and then bettered par in each of the last two rounds with a 71 and a 70 to get her piece of seventh.