While in-state rival Florida State was dusting off an elite
field in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Florida and Miami were battling it
out in the Florida Gators Invitational at the Gators’ home, the Mark Bostic
Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., over the weekend.
Miami had hosted the Hurricane Invitational in March in the
past, but the Hurricanes’ home course, the Biltmore, a Donald Ross gem, is
being renovated and it wasn’t certain if it was going to be ready in time for
the tournament.
That’s according to a source close to the T Mac Tees Off blog.
Well, OK my brother Joe, a retired Coral Gables police officer, is a member at
the Biltmore and he told me. He helped out with scoring at the Hurricane Invitational and provided some interesting on-site insights.
The Hurricanes, No. 24 in the latest Golfstat rankings, opened the weekend by grabbing a three-shot lead
over the host Gators, ranked eighth, after Saturday’s double-round. Miami
smashed the tournament’s single-round record with an 8-under-par 272 over the
6,701-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick layout in the opening round.
The Hurricanes added a 5-over 285 Saturday afternoon for a
557 total that left them three shots ahead of Florida, which posted a pair of
even-par 280s and was at even-par 560.
But the Gators, behind Addie Baggarly, a sophomore from
Jonesborough, Tenn. who finished in a tie for second in the individual
standings, came on strong with a 2-under 278 in the final round for a
tournament-record 2-under 838 total.
Miami, an Atlantic Coast Conference rival of Florida
State’s, carded a 6-over 286 in the final round to fall back into a tie for
second with No. 34 Campbell at 3-over 843, five shots behind the Gators. The Camels matched par in the opening
round with a 280 and added a 2-over 282 in Saturday afternoon’s second round
before finishing up with a 1-over 281.
No. 40 Tennessee matched its Southeastern Conference rival
Florida’s 2-under 278 in the final round to finish fourth at 6-over 846, three
shots behind Miami and Campbell.
No. 52 East Carolina was another six shots behind Tennessee
in fifth at 12-over 852 after a final round of 1-over 281. No. 20 Clemson,
another ACC entry, was three shots behind East Carolina in sixth place at
15-over 855. The Tigers matched Miami’s tournament-record team round of 8-under
272 in Saturday afternoon’s second round, but opened with a 291 and closed with
a 292.
No. 42 Penn State finished 10th in the 13-team
field at 36-over 876. The Nittany Lions, who were a regular starter in Miami’s
Hurricane Invitational and replaced it with a trip to Gainesville, struggled in
the opening round with a 299. They improved to an 7-over 287 in Saturday
afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 290.
Penn State and Campbell had seen the final two rounds of the
River Landing Classic in Wallace, N.C. wiped out by a snowstorm Tuesday
morning, so the Nittany Lions and the Camels were probably just happy to be
teeing it up in the Florida sunshine.
Baggarly fired a 1-under 69 in the final round that gave her
a 3-under 207 total and left her a shot behind the individual champion,
Tennessee’s Michaela Williams, a junior from Athens, Ala., in a three-way tie
for second.
Marta Perez, a junior from Spain, finished in a tie for sixth
for the Gators at even-par 210 after closing with their best round of the day
Sunday, a 2-under 68.
Elin Esborn, a redshirt sophomore from Sweden, matched par
in the final round with a 70 to end up among the group tied for 14th at 3-over
213. Clara Manzalini, a freshman from Italy, finished among the group tied for
18th at 4-over 214. Florida was so strong in the final round that it
had the luxury of tossing Manzalini’s solid 2-over 72.
Rounding out the Florida lineup was Sierra Brooks, a junior
from Orlando, Fla. and the No. 22 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf
Ranking (WAGR). Brooks, the runnerup in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur in
Portland, Ore. as a 17-year-old, rejuvenated her career when she joined the
Florida program a year ago after transferring from Wake Forest.
Brooks struggled in the opening round with a 77, but bounced
back in a big way with a 2-under 68 in Saturday afternoon’s second round. Her
1-over 71 in the final round left her in the group tied for 24th at
6-over 216.
Tennessee’s Williams closed with a sizzling 5-under 65 to
claim the individual title with a 4-under 206 total. After opening with a
3-over 73, Williams got into contention with a 2-under 68 in Saturday
afternoon’s second round.
Joining Florida’s Baggarly in the trio tied for second at
207 were Central Florida’s Elizabeth Moon, a freshman from Forest City, Ark.,
and East Carolina’s Dorthea Forbrigd, a junior from Norway.
Moon, who lost in heartbreaking fashion to eventual champion
Erica Shepherd in the semifinals of the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at
Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., had rounds of 67 and 68 after opening
up with a 72. Forbrigd matched Williams’ blazing final-round 65 to get her
share of runnerup honors.
Campbell’s Erica Hawkins, a freshman from Lexington, N.C.,
finished alone in fifth place, a shot behind the trio tied for second at
2-under 208. Hawkins held the individual lead at the end of Saturday’s
double-round by following up a 1-under 69 in the morning with a 2-under 68 in
the afternoon. She closed with a 1-over 71.
Hawkins’ teammate, Isabell Ekstrom, a sophomore from Sweden,
joined Florida’s Perez in a tie for sixth at even-par 210. Ekstrom closed with
a solid 1-under 69.
Ohio State’s Aneka Seumanutafa, a freshman from Emmitsburg,
Md. who joined the program at the start of the spring semester, finished alone
in eighth at 1-over 211. Seumanutafa set a tournament record for a single round
with a scintillating 6-under 64 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to get
into contention for the individual title before finishing up with a 2-over 72.
Seumanutafa showed up with fellow Maryland teen Faith Choi
at Kennett Square Golf & Country Club last fall and grabbed the lone ticket
available to the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in a Golf
Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier. The U.S. Women’s Four-Ball
tees off April 27 at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.
An otherwise tough weekend for Penn State was highlighted by
a strong showing from Sarah Willis, a freshman from Eaton, Ohio who made a huge
splash by winning the individual title in record fashion in the Nittany Lion
Invitational last fall.
After opening with a 75, Willis fired a 1-under 69 in
Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 68 that
left her among the group tied for ninth at 2-over 212.
Senior Cara Basso, a Villa Maria Academy product and winner
of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Match-Play Championship each
of the last two summers, ended up among the group tied for 44th at
220. Basso contributed a 1-over 71 to the Nittany Lions’ solid second-round
showing before finishing up with a 75.
Senior Lauren Waller, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a
senior at Canon-McMillan, was a shot behind Basso in the group tied for 48th
at 221. Waller also carded a 1-over 71 in the second round before finishing up
with a 74.
Junior Megan McLean, a Voorhees High product, struggled in
the second round with an 80, but her 74 was the low round for Penn State in the
opening round and she closed with a 3-over 73 that left her in the group tied
for 60th at 227.
Senior Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time District One champion at
Pennsbury, struggled at Mark Bostic, finishing alone in 68th at 232.
She had a pair of 76s in Saturday’s double-round and closed with an 80.
Rogowicz had worked her way into a tie for second with three
holes to play in the second round at River Landing last week before the
snowstorm not only wiped out the final round, but the incomplete second round,
that had been suspended by darkness, as well. She just wasn’t able to carry her
momentum from River Landing to Mark Bostick.
Junior Madelein Herr, the District One Class AAA champion as
a senior at Council Rock North, competed as an individual, as she has in all of
Penn State’s spring tournaments. Like Rogowicz, Herr struggled at Mark Bostick,
closing with a 79 that left her in the group tied for 65th at 230.
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