With a little help from the new president of the PGA of
America, North Carolina played host to a strong field for the Tar Heel Classic, hosted by Suzy Whaley, which teed off Friday with a double-round at a Pete
Dye classic, Casa de Campo Resort & Villas’ Teeth of the Dog Course in La
Romana, the Dominican Republic.
Suzy Whaley became the first woman to be elected as
president of the PGA of America in November. She’s also a 1989 North Carolina
graduate and mother of the Tar Heels’ senior leader, Kelly Whaley.
It all added up to enough good karma to help North Carolina
bounce back from a showing at last week’s Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on
South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island that was, let’s say, not the Tar Heels’
best. It was one of the best fields assembled for a regular-season tournament,
but 17th place is not what North Carolina had in mind.
North Carolina, with former Radnor High standout Brynn
Walker leading the way, finished the day in third place, nine shots behind
Atlantic Coast Conference rival Wake Forest, No. 12 in the latest Golfstat rankings, which grabbed the
lead with a 9-under 567 total.
The Demon Deacons unleashed their not-so-secret weapon as
Jennifer Kupcho, a senior from Westminster, Colo. and the No. 1 player in the
Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), cruised to a three-shot lead in the
individual chase, following up a 6-under-par 66 over the 6,140-yard, par-72
Teeth of the Dog layout in the opening round with a 3-under 69.
Wake Forest was coming off a solid showing in the Darius
Rucker, finishing in a tie for second with Kupcho, the reigning NCAA individual
champion, also sharing runnerup honors in the individual chase.
Kupcho’s scorching opening round helped Wake Forest card a
6-under 282 in the morning. The Demon Deacons followed that up with a 3-under
285 to get the team to 9-under.
Another strong ACC entry, No. 16 Virginia, also bettered par
in each round, opening with a 4-under 284 before adding a 1-under 287 in the
afternoon for a 5-under 571 total that left the Cavaliers four shots behind
Wake Forest in second place.
No. 40 North Carolina opened with a 3-under 285 and added a
3-over 291 in the afternoon to take sole possession of third place at even-par
576. The Tar Heels had been ranked No. 33 going into the Darius Rucker, so they
could use a good showing at Casa de Campo.
The Big Ten’s Ohio State, at No. 69 probably a little
underrated, had the best team round of the afternoon, a 4-under 284, after
opening with an 8-over 296 for a 4-over 580 that left the Buckeyes in fourth
place.
Southeastern Conference representative Mississippi was two
shots behind Ohio State in fifth place at 6-over 582 after adding a 6-over 294
to its opening round of even-par 288. No. 19 Texas Christian, which comes out
of the Big 12, was another three shots behind Ole Miss in sixth place in the
15-team field at 9-over 585. The Horned Frogs added a 4-over 592 to their
opening round of 5-over 293.
Backing up Kupcho for Wake Forest was Letizia Bagnoli, a
freshman from Italy, who added a 1-over 73 to her opening round of 1-under 71
to join the group tied for 11th at even-par 144.
Two more Demon Deacons, Emilia Migliacco, a sophomore from
Cary, N.C. and No. 20 in the Women’s WAGR, and Siyun Liu, a junior from China,
both landed among the group tied for 15th at 1-over 145.
Migliacco tuned up for the spring campaign of the 2018-’19
season by claiming a win in the Harder Hall Invitational, a prestigious event
on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour in Sebring, Fla. in January. Her opening
round of 2-over 74 was a throw-out for Wake Forest, but she bounced back with a
1-under 71 in the afternoon. Liu matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after
opening with a 1-over 73.
Vanessa Knecht, a freshman from Switzerland, picked up
Migliacco by matching par in the opening round with a 72 before falling back
with an 82 in the afternoon that left her in the group tied for 56th
at 154.
Ohio State’s Aneka Seumanutafa, a freshman from Emmitsburg,
Md. who just joined the Buckeyes for the start of the spring semester, had the
best round of the afternoon, a 5-under 67, to move into second place in the
individual chase at 6-under 138, three shots behind Kupcho.
Virginia’s Anna Redding, a stalwart senior from Concord,
N.C. and No. 31 in the Women’s WAGR, led a trio of Cavaliers in the top 10.
Redding matched Kupcho’s 6-under 66 in the opening round before backing off
with a 1-over 73 in the afternoon that left her in third place at 5-under 139,
a shot behind Seumanutafa.
Redding’s teammate, Katharine Patrick, a senior from Houston,
ended up tied for fourth with LSU’s Kendall Griffin, a sophomore from Sebring,
Fla., at 3-under 141, two shots behind Redding. Patrick added a 2-under 70 to
her opening round of 1-under 71. Griffin opened strong with a 3-under 69 before
matching par in the afternoon with a 72.
North Carolina State’s India Clyburn, a senior from England
and a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team that fell to Kupcho and
the United States in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club,
headed a group of three players tied for sixth at 2-under 142. Clyburn carded a
pair of 1-under 71s.
Joining Clyburn at 142 were Ole Miss’ Julia Johnson, a
sophomore from St. Gabriel, La., and TCU’s Greta Bruner, a junior from Conroe,
Texas. Johnson matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a
2-under 70. Bruner had one of just three sub-70 rounds in the afternoon, a
4-under 68, after opening with a 74.
Walker, a junior and a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at
Radnor, found her groove after struggling in her first couple of spring starts.
She got a share of ninth place with the third Virginia player in the top 10,
Beth Lillie, a sophomore from Fullerton, Calif., at 1-under 143.
After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Walker
had a four-birdie, three-bogey 1-under 71 in the afternoon. Lillie added an
even-par 71 to her opening round of 1-under 71.
The best round of the morning for North Carolina came from
Nicole Lu, a freshman from Taiwan who carded a 2-under 70. She added a 2-over
74 in the afternoon to join the group tied for 11th at even-par 144.
Kelly Whaley, whose game heated up about this time last
spring, also bettered par in the opening round with a 1-under 71 before posting
a 2-over 74 that left her in the group tied for 15th at 1-over 145. Ava
Bergner, a sophomore from Germany, is among the group tied for 21st
at 2-over 146 after adding an even-par 72 to her opening round of 2-over 74.
Jennifer Zhou, a freshman from China, was competing in the
Darius Rucker as an individual and was North Carolina’s highest finisher. North
Carolina coach Jan Mann rewarded Zhou with a spot in the starting lineup at
Casa de Campo. Zhou’s opening round of even-par 72 was a counter for the Tar
Heels and she added a 76 in the afternoon and was among the group tied for 28th
at 4-over 148.
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