Strom's Kent State team Flashes its talent to keep roll going by taking UCF Challenge title

   It’s not often in any Division I sport that a new head coach walks into a situation where his or her team is ready to contend for a national championship right away.

   But that’s the deal at Kent State where Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, took over after a very successful six-year tenure in Kent, Ohio for Greg Robertson, who returned to his alma mater to take over the program at Oklahoma State.

   After a successful college career at Ohio State and some time on the LPGA Tour, Strom returned to Columbus as an assistant to her college coach, legendary Buckeye boss Therese Hession. Strom finally got a chance to run her own show and was doing an outstanding job at Texas State when the call came from Kent State last summer.

   I’m guessing a call to Columbus by the Kent State search committee resulted in nothing but rave reviews from Hession concerning her former standout player and assistant coach.

   With a talented nucleus that includes Pimnipa Panthong, a senior from Thailand and No. 25 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Karoline Stormo, a senior from Norway, Strom’s first fall at the helm at Kent State saw the Golden Flashes win three tournaments and finish second in a fourth.

   Kent State was No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings heading into the spring portion of the wraparound 2019-2020 season. The mid-major Golden Flashes have won the MAC Championship for 21 straight seasons, but they take a backseat to no program in Division I.

   Kent State came on strong Tuesday with a sparkling final round of 13-under-par 275 at Eagle Creek Golf Club to win its fourth tournament title of the season, surging to a six-shot victory over Big Ten power Michigan State, the second-highest ranked team in the field at No. 13 in the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Fla.

   Kent State was tied for second with Michigan State, a shot behind No. 39 Miami, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, going into the final round. But the Golden Flashes, behind a sparkling 5-under 67 over the 6,349-yard, par-72 Eagle Creek layout by Caley McGinty, a freshman from England, went low Tuesday to finish with a 21-under 843 total.

   Michigan State posted a solid 7-under 281, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with Kent State as the Spartans settled for a runnerup finish at 15-under 849. Miami, behind an impressive individual victory for Renate Grimstad, a veteran senior from Norway, capped a strong showing in Orlando with a 5-under 283 that left the Hurricanes in third place, a shot behind Michigan State at 14-under 850.

   The best team round of the day, however, belonged to Robertson and his No. 15 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, who were one shot better than Kent State with a 14-under 274 that enabled the Big 12 representatives to climb up the leaderboard and finish in fourth place at 12-under 852, just two shots behind Miami.

   It was six shots back to Sacramento State in fifth place, but the No. 64 Hornets out of the Big Sky Conference really showed up at Eagle Creek, closing with a 5-under 283 to finish up with a 6-under 858 total.

   Host Central Florida, ranked 36^th, used a strong finish to get a share of sixth place with No. 40 Iowa State at 2-under 862. The Knights, out of the American Athletic Conference, closed with an 8-under 280 while the Cyclones, Oklahoma State’s Big 12 rival, finished up with a 6-under 282.

   Perennial Big Ten power Purdue, ranked 70^th, was three shots behind UCF and Iowa State in eighth place at 1-over 865 after the Boilermakers closed with a 1-under 287.

   Another Big Ten entry, No. 79 Penn State, struggled a little with a final round of 6-over 294 that left the Nittany Lions eight shots behind Purdue in ninth place in the 16-team field at 9-over 873.

   Kent State’s veterans were prominent all week. Stormo closed with a 4-under 68 and was among four players tied for fourth place in the individual standings at 6-under 210. Panthong, who reached the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., posted a final round of 3-under 69 to finish alone in seventh place at 5-under 211.

   McGinty matched the low round of the day with her sizzling 67 Tuesday as she ended up among the group tied for eighth place at 4-under 212. She was joined at that figure by Chloe Salort, a junior from France who closed with a solid 1-under 71.

   Kory Nielsen, a junior home girl from Kent, Ohio, had the worst round of the day for the Golden Flashes with an even-par 72 as she finished among the group tied for 33^rd place at 1-over 217. When you’re throwing out even-par rounds, you know you’re playing some great golf.

   Oh yeah, and Strom brought along Panthong’s fellow Thai, freshman Thitapa Pakdeesettakul, to compete as an individual and all she did was finish up with a 1-under 71 to end up in the group tied for 12^th place at 3-under 213.

   After reaching match play in the NCAA Championship in 2017 and 2018, Kent State failed to finish among the top eight in qualifying for match play last spring at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., although the Golden Flashes won their first regional title, capturing the team crown at the East Lansing Regional.

   They will turn right around after this week’s success and head west to tee it up in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge hosted by Ohio State at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. which gets under way Sunday.

   The elite 15-team field has made the Northrop Grumman one of the highlights of the spring sprint to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. It will be one of those classic matchups of mentor, Hession, and protégé, Strom. Should be a great reunion for them.

   As impressive as Kent State’s performance was at Eagle Creek, the most spectacular showing of the week might have belonged to Miami’s Grimstad, who ran away from the field with a seven-shot victory, the first of her college career.

   After taking control of the individual chase with rounds of 6-under 66 in the opening round and a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round, Grimstad closed with a solid 3-under 69 for a 14-under 202 total, the second-lowest finish in relation to par in the history of the Miami program.

   Oklahoma State’s Lianna Bailey, a sophomore from England, and Michigan State’s Yurika Tanida, a junior from Japan, shared runnerup honors as each landed on 7-under 209. Bailey carded her second straight 4-under 68 while Tanida capped a solid showing with a 1-under 71.

   Bailey’s teammate, Hailey Jones, a freshman from Dallas, and Sacramento State’s Tess Blair, a freshman from South Jordan, Utah, joined Kent State’s Stormo in the trio tied for fourth place at 6-under 210. Jones closed with a 4-under 68 while Blair signed for her second straight 3-under 69.

   Penn State was led by Sarah Willis, a sophomore from Eaton, Ohio who struggled in the final round with a 4-over 76 that left her just outside the top 20 in the group tied for 21^st place at 1-under 215.

She was never going to catch Grimstad, but Willis entered the final round tied for third place after rounds of 70 and 69. Still, Willis has been playing some solid golf and the Nittany Lions will be counting on her to be a consistent force at the top of the lineup.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a freshman from France, was also solid at Eagle Creek, closing with a 2-over 74 to end up among the group tied for 33^rd place at 1-over 217. The only senior at Eagle Creek for the Nittany Lions, Madelein Herr, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Council Rock North, struggled to a throw-out 79 in Tuesday’s final round, but finished among the group tied for 55^th place at 8-over 224.

   Penn State’s best round of the day Tuesday was turned in by junior Olivia Zambruno, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion at Greensburg Central Catholic. Zambruno, the runnerup to former Penn State teammate Jackie Rogowicz in last summer’s Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course, carded a solid 1-under 71 to end up among the group tied for 62^nd place at 9-over 225.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Isha Dhruva, a freshman from Katy, Texas who was playing in her first college tournament after missing the fall portion of the season with an injury. Like Zambruno, Dhruva saved her best for last, a solid 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s final round, to end up in the group tied for 70^th place at 11-over 227.

   Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre brought along another freshman, Lauren Freyvogel, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Pine Richland, to compete as an individual. Freyvogel struggled in Tuesday’s final round with an 81 and finished alone in 84^th place at 234, but didn’t play badly in the first two rounds and gained some valuable tournament experience.