Florida State springs into action with victory in Moon Golf Invitational; LSU's Lindblad the individual winner

    Florida State finished one maddening shot from forcing a playoff for the final two spots in match play in the NCAA Championship last spring at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Still, it was a pretty special spring for the Seminoles as they lost in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s first match-play final to Duke and claimed the team crown in the Louisville Regional, the first regional title in program history.

   Somehow Florida State entered this week’s Moon Golf Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Suntree Country Club’s Classic Course in Melbourne, Fla., at No. 31 in the latest Golfstat rankings.

   But with everybody back from the team that won the Louisville Regional a year ago, Florida State, opening the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season, proved that it still belongs among the country’s top teams with a six-shot victory over a loaded field.

   Behind Charlotte Heath, a sophomore from England and No. 54 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who finished alone in fourth place, and Beatrice Wallin, a senior from Sweden and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for fifth, Florida State pulled away from ACC rival Virginia with a 7-under-par 281 in the final round over Suntree’s 6,479-yard, par-72 Classic Course layout.

   Battling Florida’s typically fickle February winds, the Seminoles carded a 2-under 286 in Sunday’s opening round that gave them a one-shot lead over No. 8 Virginia. A 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round gave Florida State a two-shot lead over the Cavaliers heading into the final round.

   Their 7-under final round left the Seminoles with a 10-under 854 total. Virginia matched par in the second round with a 288 after its opening-round 286 and the Cavaliers closed with a solid 3-under 285 for a 4-under 860 total.

   Virginia was coming off a third-place finish in the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. where a couple of program records fell, but, somehow, 27-under left it 18 shots behind the winner, Wake Forest.

   No. 21 LSU, out of the Southeastern Conference, was right there with Florida State at Grayhawk, tied for ninth place, one frustrating shot from forcing a playoff for a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship.

   The Bayou Tigers, behind individual champion Ingrid Lindblad, a junior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, bounced back from an opening-round 292 with a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 6-under 282 that left them a shot behind Virginia in third place with a 3-under 861 total.

   Lindblad was one of six players who finished a shot out of the playoff between eventual champion Tsubasa Kajitani and Emilia Migliaccio in a tie for third place in last spring’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. Lindblad looked like every bit the No. 2 amateur player in the world on Suntree’s Classic Course, opening with a sparkling 6-under 66, adding a 67 in Monday’s second round and closing with a 73 for a 10-under 206 total that was three shots clear of a very tough field.

   Another SEC power, No. 9 Alabama, finished a shot behind LSU in fourth place with a 2-under 862 total. The Crimson Tide started slowly with a 297, but posted a solid 2-under 286 in Monday’s second round before closing with the best team round of the tournament, a 9-under 279.

   No. 30 Central Florida got it in under par for the week, finishing a shot behind Alabama in fifth place with a 1-under 863 total. After opening with a 292, the Knights, out of the American Athletic Conference, added a 2-under 286 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-under 285.

   It was seven shots back to another SEC entry, No. 7 Florida, in sixth place as the Gators added a 290 to their opening-round 291 and closed with a 1-over 289 for a 6-over 870 total.

   Two more SEC powers, No. 17 Auburn and No. 3 South Carolina, finished in a tie for seventh place in the 15-team field, each landing on 7-over 871, a shot behind Florida.

   Auburn, which fell in the quarterfinals in the NCAA Championship to Oklahoma State last spring, bounced back from an opening-round 295 with a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-over 289. South Carolina also started slowly with a 7-over 295, added a 291 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 3-under 285.

   Heath was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team that dropped a 12.5-7.5 decision to the United States last summer in the Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. She was the picture of consistency for Florida State at Suntree, registering three straight 2-under 70s to finish four shots behind Lindblad in fourth place and lead the way for the Seminoles with a 6-under 210 total.

   Wallin matched Heath’s opening-round 70 and added a 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with a solid 4-under 68 to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 5-under 211 total. Wallin was Florida State’s leading lady at Grayhawk last spring, finishing in a tie for ninth place in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship.

   Backing up the top two for Florida State was Amelia Williamson, a senior from England and No. 77 in the Women’s WAGR who finished alone in ninth place with a 3-under 213 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Williamson added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 71.

   Elle Johnson, a junior from Inman, S.C., finished in a large group tied for 26^th place at 4-over 220. After posting back-to-back 74s in the first two rounds, Johnson matched par with a critical 72 in the final round.

   Rounding out the Florida State lineup was Alice Hodge, a sophomore from Larchmont, N.Y. who finished in the group tied for 60^th place at 10-over 226. After opening with a 74, Hodge carded back-to-back 76s in the final two rounds.

   Heath, Wallin, Williamson and Hodge were all in the lineup for Florida State in its team victory in the Louisville Regional. The fifth player, Taylor Roberts, a sophomore from Parkland, Fla., is still on the roster. Heath, Hodge and Roberts showed uncommon poise for a trio of freshmen in the cauldron of an NCAA postseason last spring.

   A couple of graduate students, Virginia’s Beth Lillie of Fullerton, Calif. and Louisville’s Kendall Griffin of Sebring, Fla., finished in a tie for second place, three shots behind Lindblad at 7-under 209.

   Lillie, taking up the NCAA’s offer of an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic by returning to Virginia for a fifth year, bounced back from an opening-round 75 with a sparkling 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 68.

   Griffin was a teammate of Lindblad’s at LSU last spring, but chose to take her fifth year of eligibility at Louisville. Griffin opened with a solid 4-under 68 and added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 71.

   Joining Florida State’s Wallin in the trio tied for fifth place at 5-under 211 were Lillie’s Virginia teammate Amanda Sambach, a freshman from Davidson, N.C., and UCF’s Tunrada Piddon, a junior from Thailand.

   Sambach matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 70 before closing with a 3-under 69. After matching par with a 72 in the opening round, Piddon carded the best individual round of the week, a sizzling 7-under 65, in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 74.

   Alabama’s Polly Mack, a fifth-year player from Germany, finished alone in eighth place, a shot behind the trio tied for fifth with a 4-under 212 total. After opening with a 73, Mack posted a 70 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a solid 3-under 69.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings were three players – Mack’s Alabama teammate, Angelica Moresco, a graduate student from Italy, Florida’s Maisie Filer, a sophomore from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Baylor’s Gurleen Kaur, a fifth-year player from Houston and No. 79 in the Women’s WAGR -- tied for 10^th place, a shot behind Florida State’s Williamson at 2-under 214.

   Moresco was in the Alabama starting lineup as a freshman in the Crimson Tide’s loss to Arizona in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match in 2018 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Sillwater, Okla. Moresco matched par in the opening round with a 72, added a 74 in Monday’s second round and closed with a solid 4-under 68.

   Filer started slowly with a 75, but bounced back with a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 70. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Kaur posted back-to-back 1-under 71s.

   The Wilmington pair of Jennifer Cleary, a sophomore at Virginia, and Phoebe Brinker, a sophomore at Duke, were just getting their college careers started at this time a year ago after the ACC wouldn’t let its golfers compete in the fall of 2020 with the pandemic continuing to rage.

   Cleary, who starred scholastically at the Tower Hill School, and Brinker, an Archmere Academy product, were both listed as the No. 1 players in their respective lineups and both landed in the large group tied for 26^th place at 4-over 220.

   Cleary, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, opened with a solid 3-under 69, struggled a little with a 76 in Monday’s second round, and closed with a 73.

   Brinker was right in the middle of the Blue Devils’ run to the semifinals in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk as a freshman. Duke is ranked 19^th as it opens its spring campaign, but there is no senior on the roster now that U.S. Curtis Cup team member Gina Kim has moved on to the LPGA Tour after finishing in a tie for 35^th place in the eight-round grind that is the LPGA Q-Series last fall.

   After opening with a 76, Brinker added a 73 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   Cleary’s former Tower Hill teammate, Rylie Heflin, a freshman teammate of Brinker’s at Duke, was in the lineup for the Blue Devils and finished among the group tied for 50^th place with a 7-over 223 total. After posting back-to-back 76s in the first two rounds, Heflin closed with a solid 1-under 71.

   Heflin went to high school in Delaware, but she hails from Avondale, just over the Delaware border in Chester County, and played out of Hartefeld National Golf Club in the summer. She won the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship in 2017 and contended every year she teed it up in that event.