If you thought Florida State’s dominating 17-shot victory in
the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island was a
fluke, think again.
The young Seminoles, behind their pair of freshman standouts
from Sweden and their veteran, Amanda Doherty, a junior from Atlanta,
leapfrogged three of the top programs in Division I women’s golf with a final
round of 3-under 285 Monday to take the team crown in the Evans Derby
Experience, which, like the Darius
Rucker, brought together another elite field to Saugahatchee Country Club in
Opelika, Ala.
Florida State was No. 19 on the Golfstat rankings when it won the Darius Rucker and had moved up to
No. 11 heading into the Evans Derby Experience. Hello, top 10.
Texas, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, had taken the lead after Sunday’s second round,
a 1-over-par 289 leaving the Longhorns at 3-over 579. No. 3 Duke had matched Texas’
1-over 289 in the second round and trailed the Longhorns by three shots at 582.
No. 8 Arkansas, the defending Evans Derby Experience champion, was lurking
another two shots behind Duke in third at 584 after the Razorbacks, who had
grabbed the opening-round lead with a 3-under 285, carded a 299 in the second
round.
Florida State was another shot behind Arkansas in fourth at
9-over 585 after adding a 4-over 292 to its opening round of 5-over 293.
But Doherty, who had struggled a little with a pair 3-over
75s in the first two rounds, fired a 3-under 69 over the 6,250-yard, par-72
Saugahatchee layout in the final round that moved her into a tie for 12th
in the individual standings at 3-over 219.
Frida Kinhult, the freshman sensation who is No. 4 in the
Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), carded her second consecutive
2-under 70 that enabled her to finish in a group of four players tied for third
at 1-under 215.
Kinhult’s fellow Swede and fellow freshman, Beatrice Wallin,
No. 34 in the Women’s WAGR, matched par with a final-round 72 that also landed
her in the quartet tied for third at 1-under 215.
And the Seminoles got a crucial 2-over 74 from Amelia
Williamson, a freshman from England. She had struggled with scores of 76 and 80
in the first two rounds, but the clutch final round enabled her to finish among
the group tied for 56th at 230.
It added up to a 3-under 285 that gave Florida State a
6-over 870 total, four shots better than two-time reigning Big 12 champion
Texas, two-time reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke and reigning
Southeastern Conference champion Arkansas, all of whom ended up tied for second
at 10-over 874.
The Longhorns closed with a 7-over 295, the Blue Devils
carded a 4-over 292 in the final round and the Razorbacks finished up with a
solid 2-over 290.
No. 7 Florida matched par in the final round with a 288 to
finish fifth at 16-over 880, six shots behind the trio tied for second. No. 14
Kent State, behind individual champion Karoline Stormo, a junior from Norway,
was another five shots behind the Gators in sixth at 21-over 885 after a final
round of 7-over 295.
Host Auburn, ranked 13th, finished seventh in the
loaded 14-team field with a 25-over 889 total after a final round of 8-over
296.
Rounding out the Florida State lineup was a fourth freshman
– that’s four freshmen and Doherty in the lineup – Puk Lyng Thomsen of Denmark,
who contributed a 1-under 71 in the
opening round, added a 4-over 76 that was a counter in the second round and
closed with a throw-out 78 to end up in
the group tied for 38th at 9-over 225.
As I mentioned in my final post on the Darius Rucker, if you
think a lineup with four freshmen in it doesn’t have enough experience to make
a run in the postseason, you need look no further than last spring when
Southern California’s fab four of freshman and a sophomore made it all the way
to the semifinals in the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
Stormo opened with a 2-over 74 before firing a 3-under 69 in
the second round and trailed co-leaders Clara Manzalini, a freshman at Florida
from Italy, and Kaitlyn Papp, a sophomore home girl from Austin at Texas and
No. 27 in the Women’s WAGR, by a shot going into the final round.
But Stormo fired a 2-under 70 in the final round for a
3-under 213 total that gave her the individual title by a shot over Arkansas’
Maria Fassi, a senior from Mexico and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR.
After opening with a 2-under 70, Fassi, who was the defending individual champion in the Evans Derby Experience, struggled to a 4-over
76 in the second round. But she stormed home with a 4-under 68 – matching the low
individual round of the tournament – in the final round to finish a shot behind
Stormo at 2-under 214.
Fassi, the reigning Annika Award winner, could be playing on
the LPGA Tour right now, but she decided to delay the start of her professional
career because she still has some unfulfilled college goals. The NCAA
Championship will be played at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., Arkansas’
home course. Fassi seems determined to give the Pig Sooie faithful a little
something to shout about that week.
Manzalini, who also matched the low round of the tournament
with her opening-round 68, fell back in the final round with a 1-over 73 to
join Florida State’s Swedes, Kinhult and Wallin, in the quartet tied for third
at 1-under 215.
Rounding out that group was Auburn’s Julie McCarthy, a
sophomore from Ireland who sandwiched a 1-under 71 in the second round with a
pair of even-par 72s to land at 215.
Papp had gained her share of the lead after two rounds by
adding a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 72. A final round of 2-over 74 left
her alone in seventh place at even-par 216.
Baylor accounted for the pair tied for eighth at 1-over 217
as both Gurleen Kaur, a sophomore from Houston, and Maria Vesga, a senior from
Colombia, both landed on that number.
Kaur also matched the low round of the tournament with her
opening round of 4-under 68 before adding a 4-over 76 in the second round and
finishing up with a 1-over 73. Vesga finished up strong with a 2-under 70 in
the final round to join her teammate at 1-over.
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