It might have been a case of winning ugly, but Seton Hall
will take it.
It wasn’t the toughest field the Pirates have faced, but the
challenge presented by the Kingsmill Resort’s Pete Dye-designed River Course
was very real. Seton Hill, behind individual champion Mia Kness, a sophomore
who claimed the 2016 PIAA Class AAA championship as a senior at Peters
Township, grinded out a 10-shot victory in the William & Mary
Intercollegiate, which concluded Tuesday.
Kness was the only player to get around the 6,105-yard,
par-72 River Course under par and she did it in the opening round of Monday’s
double-round with a 1-under 71. Kness added a 2-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s
second round and matched the low round of the day Tuesday with a 1-over 73 to
fashion a six-shot victory over runnerup Sarah Kahn, a freshman at High Point
from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., with a 2-over 218 total.
It was the second career tournament win for Kness, who
captured the 2017 Brown Bear Invitational as a freshman.
No team managed to break 300 in any round, but Seton Hall
came the closest as Kness’ strong opening round enabled the Pirates to post a
13-over 301. They struggled to a 313 in Monday afternoon’s second round before
finishing up with a 304 for a 54-over 918 total.
At No. 99 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, it looks like Seton Hall was the only top-100 team in the field. It was
the second tournament victory in the 2018-’19 season for the Pirates, who
captured the team title in the Blue Hen Invitational to close out the fall
portion of their schedule.
Don’t have a full weather report, but it might have been the
first tournament on the spring portion of their schedule that the Pirates did
not see snow.
High Point closed with the best team round of the day in
Tuesday’s final round, a 15-over 303, to earn runnerup honors with a 64-over
928 total.
Penn, out of the Ivy League, was another eight shots behind
High Point in third at 72-over 936. The Quakers posted consistent rounds of
312, 313 and 311.
There was a big dropoff after those first three in the
standings as host William & Mary was another 23 shots behind Penn in fourth
place at 95-over 959. William & Mary sandwiched a 325 in the second round
with a pair of 317s.
Akron finished fifth, a shot behind William & Mary, at
960 after a final-round 318. Longwood was three shots behind Akron in sixth
place at 963 after a final-round 313. Penn’s Ivy League rival, Yale, was five
shots behind Longwood in seventh place in the 14-team field with a 968 total
after a final-round 315, its best round of the tournament.
Lizzie Win, a junior from Sylvania, Ohio, backed up Kness
for Seton Hall by finishing among a trio of players tied for third at 13-over
229. Win opened with a solid 3-over 75 and added a 78 Monday afternoon before
finishing up with a 76.
Carolina Ronchel Salas, a junior from Spain, finished among
the group tied for 19th at 237. Salas also opened with a solid
3-over 75, but struggled, as most of the players in the field did, to an 83 in
the second round before finishing up with a 79.
Junior Sammie Staudt, a former standout at Coatesville,
finished among the group tied for 21st at 238. Staudt had rounds of
80 and 81 in Monday’s double-round, but bounced back with a final-round 77.
Rounding out the Seton Hall lineup was junior Maddie Sager,
the 2015 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Owen J. Roberts who finished in
the group tied for 26th at 241. Like Staudt, Sager struggled in
Monday’s double-round, posting an 83 and an 80, before closing with a 78
Tuesday. Sager’s final two rounds were both counters for the Hall.
Seton Hall head coach Natalie Desjardins also brought along
Sarah Fouratt, a freshman from Santa Maria, Calif., to compete as an individual.
Fouratt opened with an even-par 72, one of the best individual rounds posted by
anybody. She backed off Monday afternoon with a 77 and struggled to an 85 in
Tuesday’s final round, but still finished among the group tied for 15th
at 234.
High Point’s Kahn trailed Kness by six shots after opening
with a 77, then matched Kness’ final two rounds with a 74 in Monday afternoon’s
second round and a final-round 73 that enabled her to claim runnerup honors in
the individual standings at 8-over 224.
Joining Seton Hall’s Win in the trio tied for third at
13-over 229, five shots behind Kahn, were Penn’s Christina Park, a junior from
San Diego, and Yale’s Coco Chai, a freshman from China.
Park matched par in the second round with a 72, again, one
of the best single rounds of the tournament, before closing with a 77. After
posting rounds of 76 and 75 in Monday’s double-round, Chai closed with a 79 to
get her share of third place.
Yale freshman Ami Gianchandini, The Pingry School product
who reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at
Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., shared sixth place with William &
Mary’s Allison Oberding, a junior from West Des Moines, Iowa, at 14-over 230.
Gianchandini carded a 76 and a 75 in Monday’s double-round
before closing with a 79. Oberding had a pair of 76s after opening with a 78.
Central Michigan’s Danielle Sawyer, a junior from Canada
competing as an individual, earned herself a top-10 finish as she ended up
alone in eighth place at 15-over 231. Sawyer matched par in the opening round
with a 72 before adding a 78 Monday afternoon and a final-round 82.
Penn got another top-10 finish from Mary Shin, a freshman
from Irvine, Calif. who finished among the group tied for ninth at 232. Shin
added a final-round 78 to a pair of 77s she carded in Monday’s double-round.
Also for Penn, Leila Dizon, a freshman from Los Angeles,
closed with a solid 2-over 74 to land with the group tied for 15th
at 234. Rina Jung, a sophomore from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., finished among the
group tied for 26th at 241. Jung’s best round was a 4-over 76 in the
opening round.
Rounding out the Penn lineup was Yubin Huh, a junior from
San Diego who closed with an 88 to finish among the group tied for 71st
at 265.
Penn freshman Olivia Traynor, the 2015 Inter-Ac League
champion as a freshman at Notre Dame, competed as an individual and ended up in
the group tied for 44th at 251. Traynor struggled to an 88 in the
opening round before adding an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round and
finishing up with an 82 in Tuesday’s final round.
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