Four of the top eight teams in Division I women’s golf will
fight it out for the team title in the final round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Intercollegiate.
Two-time reigning Big 12 champion Texas, No. 3 in the latest
Golfstat rankings, carded a solid
3-over 291 at English Turn Golf & Country Club in windy and chilly
conditions Monday that made New Orleans anything but the Big Easy to hold onto
a four-shot lead, but the Longhorns have some high-profile programs chasing them.
Texas had opened with a 3-under 285 Sunday, but nobody was
able to better par Monday as the Longhorns battled to an even-par 576 total for
two rounds over the 6,239-yard, par-72 English Turn layout.
No. 1 Southern California matched Texas’ 3-over 291 after opening
with a 1-over 289 and is alone in second place at 4-over 580. No. 5 Duke, the
two-time reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion, added an 8-over 296 to
its opening round of 2-under 286 and is alone in fourth place at 6-over 582,
two shots behind the Trojans.
The best round of the day belonged to Southeastern
Conference power Florida, ranked eighth, as the Gators carded a 1-over 289 to
move into fourth place at 8-over 284. Florida had opened with a 7-over 295.
Florida’s SEC rival South Carolina, ranked 16th,
is another four shots behind the Gators in fifth place at 12-over 588 after its
second straight 6-over 294. No. 47 Houston is another five shots behind the
Gamecocks in sixth place at 17-over 593 after adding a 9-over 297 to its
opening-round 296.
Two-time reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State, ranked 27th,
No. 63 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Auburn are tied for third, each landing at
25-over 601, eight shots behind the Cougars.
The Spartans and the Cowgirls continue to be in lockstep as
they each added a 304 to an opening-round 297. The Tigers fell back from an
opening-round 298 with a 303 in Monday’s second round.
Former Radnor standout Brynn Walker and No. 34 North
Carolina improved by a couple of shots with a 303, but the Tar Heels could only
move up one spot in the team standings at 13th in the tough 18-team
field at 32-over 608. It’s not exactly the start to the spring campaign that
North Carolina envisioned, but the good news is that it is just the beginning.
There is a lot of golf to be played between now and the ACC Championship at
Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. in April.
Texas is young and talented, but the Longhorns are being led
in New Orleans by a senior stalwart in Maddie Luitwieler of Katy, Texas.
Luitwieler added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 70 and is tied for fourth in
the individual standings at 1-under 143, three shots behind individual leader
Ana Belac, a junior at Duke from Slovenia.
Not that anybody in the Texas lineup is playing poorly. All
five Longhorns finished round 2 among the top 18 in the individual standings.
Freshman Hailee Cooper, one of the most sought-after
recruits in the country out of Montgomery, Texas, is tied for 10th
at 1-over 145, although her 4-over 76 was a throw-out for the Longhorns Monday.
Cooper had been tied for second after her opening-round 69.
Her teammates picked Cooper up, which is what always happens at the top programs. Agathe Laisne, a sophomore from France and No. 40 in the
Women’s World Amateur Ranking (WAGR), had the best round of the day for the
Longhorns, a 2-under 70 that was among the best rounds recorded by anybody in
the field.
Laisne, who is starting to show the kind of form that made
her the winner of the 2017 European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, had opened
with a 76, but her solid second round moved her into the group tied for 14th
at 2-over 146.
Sara Kouskova, a freshman from the Czech Republic, and
Kaitlyn Papp, a sophomore home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 24 in the
Women’s WAGR, both landed in the group tied for 18th at 3-over 147.
Both players added a 2-over 74 to an opening-round 73.
Belac, No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR, had grabbed the
individual lead with an opening round of 4-under 68 and retained that lead with
an even-par 72 that left her at 4-under 140.
A couple of sophomores, Florida’s Addie Baggarly of
Jonesborough, Tenn. and Southern California’s Amelia Garvey of New Zealand, are
tied for second, two shots behind Belac at 2-under 142. Baggarly carded a
second straight 1-under 71 while Garvey backed off from her opening-round 69
with a 1-over 73.
Sharing fourth place with Texas’ Luitwieler at 1-under 143
was Houston’s Leonie Harm, a senior who became the first German winner of the
Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship at Hillside Golf Club in Southport,
England last summer. Harm, No. 15 in the Women’s WAGR, matched the low round of
the day with a 3-under 69 after opening with a 74.
Two South Carolina players, Ana Pelaez, a junior from Spain,
and Emily Price, a freshman from England, are in the group of four players tied
for sixth at even-par 144. Pelaez matched the low round of the day with a
3-under 69 after opening with a 75 and Price added a 1-over 73 to her
opening-round 71.
Belac’s teammate at Duke, Jaravee Boonchant, a sophomore
from Thailand and No. 25 in the Women’s WAGR, is also in the group at even-par
144 after posting a second straight even-par 72.
Rounding out the foursome tied for sixth was Tulane’s
Jennifer Rosenberg, a sophomore from Laurel Hollow, N.Y. Although LSU is the
host for the Allstate Sugar Bowl, it’s not much of a road trip for Rosenberg,
who also matched the low round of the day with a 3-under 69 after opening with
a 75.
North Carolina was led by Mariana Ocano, a junior from St.
Petersburg, Fla. who carded a 1-over 73, which, combined with her opening-round
76, left her in the group tied for 27th at 5-over 149.
Kelly Whaley, the Tar Heels’ senior leader from Farmington,
Conn., and Nicole Lu, a freshman from Taiwan, both landed among the group tied
for 52nd at 10-over 154. Whaley added a 78 to her opening-round 76
while Lu carded a second straight 77.
Walker, who captured PIAA Class AAA titles in 2014 and ’15
while at Radnor, started her day with a triple-bogey 7 on the 10th
hole and couldn’t recover. Her 79 was a throw-out for North Carolina and,
combined with her opening-round 76, left her in the group tied for 64th
at 155.
Walker was joined at that figure by teammate Ava Bergner, a sophomore
from Germany who shaved five shots off her opening-round 80 with a 3-over 75.
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