It wasn’t the toughest field Penn State faced all season,
but the Nittany Lions, behind a career-best effort by junior Megan McLean, a
Voorhees High product, took care of business in the Memphis Women’s
Intercollegiate, which concluded Tuesday at Ridgeway Country Club in
Germantown, Tenn.
After carding an 8-over 292 over the 6,105-yard, par-71
Ridgeway layout in the opening round of Monday’s double-round, Denise St.
Pierre’s Nittany Lions really got it going in the afternoon. With McLean and senior
Lauren Waller, a Canon-McMillan product, each firing a 4-under 67, Penn State
took control of the team race with a 10-under 274.
It matched the program record for a team round in relation
to par, matching the 10-under score the Nittany Lions posted in the final round
of the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational last fall when they nearly caught host
Kentucky before settling for a runnerup finish.
Penn State, No. 51 in the latest Golfstat rankings, finished up Tuesday with a 4-over 288 for a
2-over 854 total that gave it the team title by five shots over No. 67 Middle
Tennessee.
Penn State entered the spring ranked 39th after a
strong fall campaign that saw it win the Nittany Lion Invitational at home and
the Princeton Invitational. The Nittany Lions have struggled at times against
some tough fields this spring, but a win is a win, especially in their final
event before the Big Ten Championship, which tees off April 19 at TPC River’s
Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
Penn State took a No. 69 ranking into the Big Ten
Championship last spring and finished ninth. It wasn’t enough to get it a berth
in the NCAA regionals, although Cara Basso, the Villa Maria Academy product who
has won the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Match-Play Championship
each of the last two summers, did earn an invitation to the Madison Regional as
an individual.
The three seniors, Waller, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup
as a senior at Canon-McMillan, Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA champion as a
sophomore at Villa Maria, and Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA runnerup at
Pennsbury, have been in the lineup all four years. There is one goal left to
reach: An NCAA regional trip for the team.
They took a positive step toward that goal Tuesday.
Middle Tennessee posted solid rounds of 5-over 289 and
2-under 282 in Monday’s double-round before finishing up with a 4-over 288 for
a 7-over 859 total that left the Blue Raiders five shots behind Penn State in
second.
Host Memphis, ranked 70th, was another seven
shots behind Middle Tennessee in third behind individual champion Michaela
Fletcher, a redshirt senior from South Africa. After opening with a 6-over 290,
the Tigers posted a pair of 4-over 288s for a 14-over 866 total.
It was another 23 shots back to No. 123 Troy in fourth place
at 37-over 889 after a final round of 12-over 296. No. 94 Toledo was eight more
shots behind Troy in fifth place in the 14-team field at 45-over 897 after a
final-round 303.
McLean had the lead following Monday’s double-round as her
sparkling 67 in the afternoon followed an opening round of 1-under 70. She was
at 5-under 137. A final round of 1-over 72 left her with a third-place finish
at 4-under 209, the fourth-lowest 54-hole total in program history.
Rogowicz, a three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier,
finished in a tie for fourth at 1-over 214, five shots behind McLean. After
opening with a 3-over 74, Rogowicz contributed a 2-under 69 to Penn State’s
second-round surge before matching par with a 71 in the final round.
Basso was another shot back in a three-way tie for sixth at
2-over 215 as she sandwiched an even-par 71 with a pair of 1-over 72s.
Waller struggled in the opening round with a throw-out 78
before matching McLean’s 4-under 67 in Penn State’s remarkable second round. A
final-round 74 left Waller in the group tied for 11th at 6-over 219.
Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Sarah Willis, a
freshman from Eaton, Ohio who finished among the group tied for 30th
at 228, closing with a solid 2-over 73.
As she has all spring, junior Madelein Herr, who starred
scholastically at Council Rock North, competed as an individual and she was
solid, as she has pretty much been all spring. After opening with a 77, Herr
carded a pair of 2-over 73s to finish among the group tied for 21st
at 10-over 223.
Memphis’ Fletcher opened with an even-par 71 before adding a
3-under 68 that left her two shots behind Penn State’s McLean after two rounds.
She surged to the individual title with a sparkling final round of 5-under 66
that gave her an 8-under 205 total.
Middle Tennessee’s Hanley Long, a senior from Clarkesville,
Tenn., matched Fletcher’s final-round 66, but came a shot short with a 7-under
206 total, three shots ahead of McLean.
Another Middle Tennessee player, Sophie Burks, a sophomore
from Montgomery, Ala., shared fourth place with Penn State’s Rogowicz at 1-over
214. After opening with a 4-over 75, Burks bettered par in the next two rounds,
a 2-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round and a 1-under 70 in Tuesday’s
final round.
Jenna Burris, a redshirt senior from Manchester, Tenn., gave
Middle Tennessee a third finisher in the top six as she shared sixth place with
Penn State’s Basso and Western Kentucky’s Mary Joiner, a junior from Franklin,
Ky., at 2-over 215.
Burris marched par in the opening round with a 71 and added
a 1-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-over
74. Joiner bounced back from an opening-round 75 with a 2-under 69 in Monday
afternoon’s second round before finishing up by matching par in the final round
with a 71.
Memphis’ Sydney Colwill, a senior from Tucson, Ariz.,
finished alone in ninth at 3-over 216 after closing with a 2-over 73 and Troy’s
Bianca Lohbauer, a senior from South Africa, rounded out the top 10 in the individual
standings as she finished alone in 10th at 5-over 218 after a strong
final round of 2-under 69.
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