Duke beats elite field in Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge by seven shots; Auburn's Telfer the individual champion

   Right in the middle of Pac-12 country, Duke, the reigning national champion out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, made a statement this week in capturing the team title in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.

   The Blue Devils, an underrated No. 12 in the latest Golfstat rankings, bested a field that included most of the top teams in Division I women’s golf by seven shots as they closed with a solid 1-under-par 283 Tuesday at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. for a 5-under 847 total.

   Duke also accomplished this feat without its best player as junior Jaravee Boonchant, No. 14 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was excused so she could tee it up in the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday at the Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course in her native Thailand. The tournament, however, was canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus in Asia.

   But Duke did have three veterans of that run to the program’s seventh national championship last spring at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. bolstered by a couple of freshmen who teamed up to win last spring’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

   Miranda Wang, a redshirt junior from China, and Ana Belac, a senior from Slovenia, had fired matching 5-under 66s over the 6,017-yard, par-71 Palos Verdes layout in Monday’s second round that staked Duke to an eight-shot lead heading to Tuesday’s final round.

   Wang made a run at the individual title in the final round, her 3-under 68 leaving her in a tie for second, a shot behind individual champion Kaleigh Telfer, a junior at Auburn from South Africa, at 5-under 208. And Belac was solid again, carding a 1-under 70 that left her in a tie for fifth place at 3-under 210.

   Duke was the only team to finish under par and the Blue Devils beat a field that included Nos. 1 (Texas), 2 (Kent State), 3 (Wake Forest), 4 (Arizona State), 5 (Southern California), 6 (Stanford), 7 (Arizona) and 9 (Florida).

   Perennial Pac-12 and national power Southern California had the best round of the day Tuesday, a 6-under 278, as the Trojans settled for runnerup honors at 2-over 854.

   Only a program like Southern Cal can have the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, Gabriela Ruffels, a junior from Australia and No. 15 in the Women’s WAGR, slotted into the No. 3 spot in its lineup. Ruffels contributed to the late charge by the Trojans with a 4-under 67 that lifted her into a tie for 12^th place in the individual chase at even-par 213.

   Reigning three-time Big 12 champion Texas did nothing to diminish its No.-1 ranking as the Longhorns closed with a 3-under 281 to take third place at 3-over 855, a shot behind Southern Cal.

Texas was a program in mourning after the its first coach, Pat Weis, a true pioneer in women’s college golf, died at age 89 Sunday. The Longhorns did one of the giants of their program proud with their strong finish in the Northrop Grumman.

   A couple of Pac-12 powers, No. 19 UCLA and No. 4 Arizona State, were next in line in the team standings. The Bruins, led by a couple of gifted freshmen, closed with a 2-over 286 to finish alone in fourth place at 6-over 858, three shots behind Texas. The Sun Devils, behind a tie for second from their stalwart senior, Olivia Mehaffey of Northern Ireland and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, finished up with a 2-under 282 to end up a shot behind UCLA in fifth place at 7-over 859.

   There was a little bit of a dropoff to fifth-place Kent State, which finished alone in sixth place, nine shots behind Arizona State at 16-over 868 after the Flashes’ best round of the tournament, a 1-over 285.

   Under first-year coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, it was an ambitious bit of scheduling to start the spring campaign for Kent State, which captured its fourth team crown in five starts in the wraparound 2019-’20 season last week in the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Fla. But the Flashes proved their No.-2 ranking is no fluke.

   Stanford, the reigning Pac-12 champion, was a shot behind Kent State in seventh place at 17-over 869 after a final round of 2-over 286.

   As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, the Cardinal are regrouping after losing two of the top amateur players in the world in Albane Valenzuela and Andrea Lee to the LPGA Tour during the midseason break. It bears repeating that when you’re trying to recruit players who are good enough to play in the big leagues of women’s golf, you can’t get bent out of shape when they get there a little ahead of schedule.

   Wake Forest, which battled its ACC rival Duke to the 20^th hole of the last match in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at The Blessings, was a shot behind Stanford in eighth place in the elite 16-team field at 18-over 870 after a final round of 10-over 294.

   Backing up Miranda Wang and Belac for Duke was a remarkably poised performance by one its freshmen, Megan Furtney of St. Charlies, Ill. Furtney churned out a third straight even-par 71 to finish among the group tied for 12^th place at even-par 213.

   Tuesday’s final-round 71, though, was a roller-coaster ride, particularly on a back nine that went like this: Double bogey, birdie, birdie, triple bogey, birdie, birdie, birdie, par, bogey. Pretty special for a kid in that situation to forget about the train wrecks and keep making birdies.

   Gina Kim, a sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled a little in Tuesday’s final round with a 7-over 78 that the Blue Devils tossed. But Kim, whose tie for 12^th place gave her low-amateur honors in last spring’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston, still finished among the group tied for 29^th place at 7-over 220.

   And Kim was picked up by Furtney’s partner in that U.S. Women’s Four-Ball last spring, Erica Shepherd, a freshman from Greenwood, Ind. Shepherd struggled in the first two rounds at Palos Verdes, but came up big with a 3-over 74 Tuesday that was Duke’s final counter and left her among the group tied for 67^th place at 229.

   Speaking of poise under pressure, Auburn’s Telfer, who probably felt like she was being chased by the entire top 50 of the Women’s WAGR, matched par in Tuesday’s final round with a 71 that enabled her to hold on for an individual title, the second of her college career, that’s a little more special than most.

   Telfer had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 5-under 66 in less than ideal conditions Sunday and still had a share of the lead after a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before her steady even-par effort enabled her to finish atop the leaderboard with her 6-under 207 total.

   Duke’s Miranda Wang and Arizona State’s Mehaffey, a two-time selection for the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team, shared second place, a shot behind Telfer at 5-under 205. Mehaffey, a holdover from the Sun Devils’ 2017 national championship victory at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., closed with a 1-under 70.

   One of UCLA’s fabulous freshmen, Emilie Paltrinieri of Italy and No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR, finished alone in fourth place at 4-under 209, a shot behind Miranda Wang and Mehaffey, after closing with a rush, a 4-under 67.

   Duke’s Belac shared fifth place at 3-under 210 with Southern California’s Amelia Garvey, a junior from New Zealand and No. 44 in the Women's WAGR. Garvey was another fast finisher, firing a 3-under 68 in Tuesday’s final round.

   The other star freshman in Westwood, Emma Spitz of Austria and No. 27 in the Women’s WAGR, was one of four players who landed in a tie for seventh place at 2-under 211. Spitz had caught Telfer for a share of the lead after two rounds with a sizzling 5-under 66 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio, a junior from Cary, N.C. and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, was also in that group at 2-under after finishing up with a 2-over 73. Migliaccio struck gold for the United States in last summer’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru in both the women’s individual and mixed team competitions.

   Rounding out the quartet tied for seventh place were Stanford’s Ziyi (Emily) Wang, a senior from China, and Texas’ Sophie Guo, a freshman from Orlando, Fla. Emily Wang closed with a 2-under 69 while Guo finished up with a 1-under 70.

   Guo’s fellow Longhorn, Kaitlyn Papp, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, was the only other player to finish under par as she closed with a 1-under 70 to end up alone in 11^th place at 1-under 212.

   If Migliaccio and Papp can maintain their status among the top three Americans in the Women’s WAGR, they will be automatic selections to the U.S. team that will battle Great Britain & Ireland for the Curtis Cup in June at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales.