Heck claims individual title, leads Stanford to runaway victory in team race in Cle Elum Regional

 

   Rachel Heck is officially back.

   The Stanford senior from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 80 in the Women’s World Amateur Ranking (WAGR) was always the wild card in the Cardinal’s prospects for the wraparound 2023-2024 season.

   When Heck captured the individual title in the NCAA’s Cle Elum Regional, which wrapped up Wednesday at the Tumble Creek Club at the Suncadia Resort, it was her ninth career collegiate victory, but her first since 2022.

   Heck had had a rib removed early in 2023, an attempt to relieve the symptoms from thoracic outlet syndrome that had been plaguing her, and was never herself a year ago. She tried to give it a go in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., but it was clear she wasn’t there yet. Despite the imposing presence of Rose Zhang in the lineup, Stanford fell to Pac-12 rival Southern California in the semifinals.

   Heck was mostly missing from the Stanford lineup during the fall portion of this season. As talented as this Stanford roster is, a point driven home when the Cardinal accounted for four of the top five spots in the individual standings at Tumble Creek, you couldn’t help but think it needed Heck because she’s just the kind of person that makes any team that she’s a part of better.

   In late March, Heck wrote a personal letter that appeared on the No Laying Up website explaining that she plans to remain an amateur when her college career comes to an end this month.

   Not a huge surprise. The kid will have an internship with a private equity firm this summer and will enter the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant after challenging herself in the Air Force ROTC program at Stanford. She’s got a lot going on and golf is just going to have to settle for being a part of the picture, not the whole picture.

   I would commend your attention to Heck’s own words in the letter she wrote. They are much more powerful than anything I could muster.

   But yeah, Rachel Heck can still play some golf.

   She moved within a shot of her teammate Paula Martin Sampedro, a freshman from Spain and No. 23 in the Women’s WAGR, with a sizzling 7-under-par 65 over the 6,306-yard, par-72 Tumble Creek layout in Tuesday’s second round.

   Doesn’t sound like the weather was real great at Tumble Creek this week – cold weather gear was evident in the still photos I saw -- but Heck closed with a solid 1-under 71 for an 8-under 208 total that gave her a four-shot victory over teammate Kelly Xu, a sophomore from Claremont, Calif. and No. 72 in the Women’s WAGR.

   More importantly, it gave top-seeded Stanford, which won the team title in the final Pac-12 Championship last month, a dominating 18 shot victory in the team chase, the Cardinal’s second straight regional team crown.

   Heck’s blistering second round enabled Stanford to take control of the team race with a 14-under 274. The Cardinal closed with a 1-over 289 for a 17-under 847 total. Stanford was the only team to finish under par.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke, seeded second, had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 2-under 282. The Blue Devils matched par in the second round with a 288 and closed with a 7-over 295 to earn runnerup honors with a 1-over 865 total.

   It was 11 shots back to Duke’s ACC rival Virginia, the four seed, in third place as the Cavaliers closed with a 3-over 291 to end up with a 12-over 876 total.

   Third-seeded Arizona State, another member of the expiring Pac-12, finished in fourth place, landing nine shots behind Virginia with a 21-over 885 total. The Sun Devils, who had struggled to a 303 in Tuesday’s second round, closed with a 6-over 294 total.

   Mountain West champion San Jose State, seeded fifth, grabbed the final berth out of the Cle Elum Regional to the NCAA Championship as the Spartans finished two shots behind Arizona State in fifth place with a 23-over 887 total.

   San Jose State closed with a solid 4-over 292 to make sure it punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship, which tees off May 17 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s Champions Course in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Xu, who had contributed a 3-under 69 to Stanford’s second-round surge, closed with a 1-over 73 to earn runnerup honors in the individual lineup, four shots behind Heck with a 4-under 212 total.

   Martin Sampedro and Megha Ganne, a junior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 46 in the Women’s WAGR, were part of a three-way tie for third place at 2-under 214, two shots behind their teammate Xu.

   After carding back-to-back 4-under 68s in the first two rounds, Martin Sampedro struggled in the final round with a 6-over 78. Ganne finished with a flourish as she tallied a 5-under 67 in the final round, easily the best individual round of the day, to get a share of third place.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Sadie Englemann, a senior from Austin, Texas and No. 44 in the Women’s WAGR, as she closed with a 6-over 78 to finish among the group tied for 30^th place with a 10-over 226 total.

   Crashing the Stanford party at the top of the individual leaderboard was Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, a junior from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, as she joined Martin Sampedro and Ganne in the trio tied for third place at 2-under 214. Sambach closed with her second straight 1-under 71.

   Duke’s Katie Li, part of an outstanding freshman class in Division I college golf from Basking Ridge, N.J., finished in the group tied for 13^th place with a 5-over 221 total. Li sandwiched a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Duke senior Phoebe Brinker, a product of Archmere Academy, struggled in the final round with an 81 to end up among the trio tied for 19^th place with a 7-over 223 total.

   In the Auburn Regional, it took Anna Davis, a freshman from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR, all of about four months to get acclimated to the college game.

   The talented left-hander, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship in 2022 as a 16-year-old, joined the Auburn program in time for the spring semester.

   Wednesday, Davis carded a second straight 3-under 69 at the Auburn University Club to earn a three-shot victory in the individual chase and lead the host Tigers, a Southeastern Conference power, to the team crown over a tough field.

   Auburn had taken control of the team race with a 1-under 287 over the 6,522-yard, par-72 Auburn University Club layout in Tuesday’s second round. A final round of 9-over 297 gave the Tigers a 10-over 874 total.

   Third-seeded Oregon, out of the Pac-12, closed with a solid 5-over 293 to earn runnerup honors with a 14-over 878 total.

   North Carolina, the fifth seed out of the ACC, also finished strong, matching Oregon’s 5-over 293 in the final round as the Tar Heels ended up in third place, seven shots behind the Ducks with a 21-over 885 total.

   It will be North Carolina’s first trip to the NCAA Championship since 2017, the freshman season for Brynn Walker, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion during a standout scholastic career at Radnor.

   There were four teams battling it out for the final two berths to the NCAA Championship out of the Auburn Regional and SEC power South Carolina, the top seed, and fourth-seeded Tulsa, an American Athletic Conference representative, finished in a tie for fourth place with a 27-over 891 total and nabbed those final two spots.

   The Gamecocks had struggled mightily with a 305 in Tuesday’s second round, but got it together with a final round of 5-over 293. The Hurricanes closed with a solid 7-over 295 to keep their season going.

   Michigan, the sixth seed out of the Big Ten, never found its groove at the Auburn University Club as the Wolverines closed with a 309 to finish in ninth place with a 60-over 924 total.

   Davis’ first collegiate victory was a big one as her second straight 69 in Wednesday’s final round gave her a 5-under 211 total.

   Backing up Davis for Auburn was Megan Schofill, a fifth-year player from Monticello, Fla. and No. 19 in the Women’s WAGR, as the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish among a trio of players tied for second place, three shots behind Davis at 2-under 214.

   Casey Weidenfeld, a redshirt sophomore from Pembroke Pines, Fla. and No. 56 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 76, but finished a tie for 16^th place with a 6-over 222 total. Weidenfeld contributed a 2-under 70 to Auburn’s solid second round.

   Anna Foster, a senior from Ireland, closed with a 7-over 79 to finish in the group tied for 25^th place with a 227 total for the Tigers.

   Rounding out the Auburn lineup was Katie Cranston, a sophomore from Canada who struggled to a final round of 80 to finish among a trio of players tied for 40^th place at 232.

   Joining Schofill in the trio tied for second place at 2-under were South Carolina’s Louise Rydqvist, a junior from Sweden and No. 33 in the women’s WAGR, and Minnesota’s Isabella McCauley, a sophomore from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. who was competing as an individual.

   Rydqvist dropped a par putt on the 18^th hole that clinched the Gamecocks’ spot in the NCAA Championship. It gave her a final round of 1-under 71.

   On a day when the Auburn University Club was playing really tough, McCauley unleashed a sizzling 7-under 65 to nail down the lone individual ticket available to the NCAA Championship. McCauley and individual champion Davis were the only players in the field with a score in the 60s in the final round.

   North Carolina’s Kayla Smith, a fifth-year player from Burlington, N.C., and Houston’s Moa Svedenskiold, a sophomore from Sweden, finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 1-under 215.

   Smith closed with a solid 1-under 71. Svedenskiold had taken the lead in the individual standings after registering a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round, but fell back a little with a final round of 2-over 74.

   Michigan freshman Sidney Yermish, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Lower Merion, struggled in the second round in their NCAA regional debut with an 82 (Yermish identifies as they/their/them pronoun-wise) after opening with a 4-over 76. Yermish closed with a 5-over 77 to end up in a tie for 46^th place with a 235 total.

   In the Bermuda Run Regional, Mississippi, the third seed out of the SEC, rallied behind individual co-medalist Caitlyn Macnabb, a junior from South Africa and No. 31 in the Women’s WAGR, to overtake host Wake Forest, the ACC champion, and capture the team crown.

   Macnabb closed with a sparkling 5-under 67 over the 6,297-yard, par-72 Bermuda Run Country Club East Course layout to get a share of the individual title with Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, a graduate student from Asheville, N.C. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, each ending up with a 12-under 204 total.

   Macnabb was in the 60s in all three rounds at Bermuda Run, adding a 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round to her opening-round 69.

   Ole Miss closed with a 9-under 279 for a 21-under 843 total that gave the Rebels a one-shot victory over Big 12 champion Texas. It was the first regional team crown in program history for Ole Miss.

   Second-seeded Texas finished up with an 8-under 280 to earn runnerup honors with a 20-under 844 total.

   Top-seeded Wake Forest matched par in the final round with a 288 to finish two shots behind Texas in third place in the tight three-team race with an 18-under 846 total.

   Like Macnabb, Kuehn, the ACC individual champion, had three rounds in the 60s, closing with a 3-under 69 to join Macnabb at 12-under. Kuehn had added a 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round to her opening-round 67.

   It was 15 shots back to SEC champion Mississippi State in fourth place as the Bulldogs finished up with a 2-over 290 for a 3-under 861 total.

   Oregon State, the eighth seed out of the Pac-12, earned the final berth to the NCAA Championship out of arguably the toughest regional as the Beavers closed with a 4-under 284 to finish a shot behind Mississippi State in fifth place with a 2-under 862 total.

   Coastal Athletic Association champion Delaware closed with a 307 to finish in 12^th place with a 53-over 917 total.

   Ole Miss got strong showings up and down the lineup in capturing the team title.

   Backing up Macnabb was Sophie Linder, a freshman from Carthage, Tenn. who closed with a 2-under 70 to finish in a tie for 13^th place with a 4-under 212 total. Linder had contributed a solid 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round as Ole Miss began its climb to the top spot with a 7-under 281.

   Justine Fournand, a senior from France, matched Linder’s final round of 2-under 70 as she finished among the group tied for 15^th place with a 2-under 214 total.

   Nicole Gal, a sophomore from Canada, matched par for the second straight day with a 72 in the final round to finish in the group tied for 24^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Rounding out the Ole Miss lineup was Natacha Husted, a junior from Denmark who finished in the group tied for 32^nd place at 5-over 221 after closing with a 1-over 73.

   Mississippi State was led by SEC individual champion Julia Lopez Ramirez, a junior from Spain and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for third place with Tennessee’s Bailey Davis, a junior from White Plains, Md., each ending up four shots behind the co-medalists at 8-under 208.

   Lopez Ramirez finished up with her best round of the week, a 4-under 68. Davis had entered the final round with a one-shot lead in the individual standings before closing with a 2-over 74, but still earned the lone individual ticket up for grabs to La Costa.

   A couple of freshmen, Texas’ Selina Liao of Taiwan and Oregon State’s Raya Nakao of Kaneohe, Hawaii, finished in a tie for fifth place at Bermuda Run, each landing on 7-under 209. Liao closed with a solid 4-under 68 and Nakao sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s.

   Leading the way for Delaware was senior Christina Carroll, a product of William Penn High School who cut her teeth as a golfer on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour. Carroll closed with a 1-over 73 after recording back-to-back 3-over 75s in the first two rounds.

   Backing up Carroll for the Blue Hens was Alisa Khokhlova, a junior from Russia who finished among the group tied for 46^th place with a 228 total after closing with a 5-over 77. Khokhlova’s best round of the week was a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round.

   CAA individual champion Lilia Henkel, a junior from Grand Rapids, Mich., signed for a second straight 7-over 79 in the final round as she finished in a tie for 58^th place with a 234 total.

   Oihana Etxezaretta, a senior from Spain, closed with a 6-over 78 as she finished alone in 60^th place with a 235 total.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup was freshman Marissa Malosh, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at South Fayette who finished in a tie for 61^st place with a 241 total as she struggled in the final round with an 84. Still, a pretty solid freshman season for Malosh.

   In the East Lansing Regional, Southern California, the top seed out of the Pac-12, went wire to wire in winning the program’s 15^th regional team crown with a 9-under 855 total at the Forest Akers West Golf Course.

   The Trojans were led by their standout freshman, Bailey Shoemaker of Dade City, Fla., as she finished in second place in the individual standings with a 9-under 207 total that left her three shots behind regional medalist Lauren Beaudreau, a graduate student at Notre Dame from Lemont, Ill. who was competing as an individual.

   After opening with a sizzling 7-under 65 over the 6,325-yard, par-72 Forest Akers West layout, Shoemaker added back-to-back 1-under 71s in the final two rounds.

   Southern California, which lost in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match to Wake Forest at Grayhawk last spring, added a 1-over 289 in Tuesday’s second round to its solid 7-under 281 in the opening round before closing with a 3-under 285.

   Oklahoma State, the eighth seed out of the Big 12, needed a big final round to punch its ticket to the NCAA Championship and the Cowgirls got it, closing with an 8-under 279, the low team round of the tournament, to finish four shots behind Southern Cal in second place with a 5-under 859 total.

   Host Michigan State, the fifth seed out of the Big Ten, finished a shot behind Oklahoma State in third place with a 4-under 860 total as the Spartans closed with a solid 3-under 285.

   Another perennial Big Ten power, Northwestern, seeded second, finished a shot behind Michigan State in fourth place with a 3-under 861 total. The Wildcats were typically solid, matching par in Tuesday’s second round with a 288 and closing with a 1-over 289.

   Fourth-seeded Pepperdine, which won its third straight West Coast Conference crown last month, snagged the final team berth to the NCAA Championship as the Waves finished two shots behind Northwestern in fifth place with a 1-under 863 total. Pepperdine registered its second straight 2-over 290 in the final round.

   Backing up Shoemaker for Southern Cal was Catherine Park, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for fifth place with Northwestern’s Lauryn Nguyen, a junior from Seattle, Wash. and No. 76 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on 5-under 211.

   Park, who finished in a tie for second place in the individual chase in last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk, helped the Trojans nail down the team crown by closing with a sparkling 5-under 67.

   Brianna Navarrosa, a senior from San Diego, Calif., closed with a 2-over 74 to finish in the group tied for 13^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Amari Avery, a junior from Riverside, Calif. and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled a little in the final round with a 5-over 77 as she finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Rounding out the Southern California lineup was Christine Wang, a senior from Houston, Texas as she contributed a counting 1-over 73 in the final round to end up among a trio of players tied for 38^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Beaudreau grabbed the lone individual berth to the NCAA Championship in impressive fashion by capturing medalist honors in East Lansing with three rounds in the 60s. After Beaudreau opened with a 4-under 68, she added a 69 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a sizzling 5-under 67.

   Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, a senior from Australia and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR, contributed a 4-under 68 to Oklahoma State’s final-round surge as she finished in third place in the individual standings, a shot behind Southern Cal’s Shoemaker with an 8-under 208 total.

   As a freshman, Hinson-Tolchard tallied the lone point for the Cowgirls in their 4-1 loss to Ole Miss in the NCAA Championship’s Final match three springs ago at Grayhawk.

   Michigan State’s Leila Raines, a senior from Galena, Ohio, closed with a 3-under 69 on her home course to finish two shots behind Hinson-Tolchard in fourth place with a 6-under 210 total.

   Northwestern’s Nguyen sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s to get a share of fifth place with Southern Cal’s Park at 5-under.

   In the Bryan Regional, a determined LSU squad, the top seed out of the SEC, captured the first outright regional crown in program history with an 8-under 856 total at the Traditions Golf Club.

   This is why Ingrid Lindblad, a graduate student from Sweden and the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, and Latanna Stone, a graduate student from Riverview, Fla. and No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR, came back to Baton Rouge for a fifth year.

   They want an NCAA title and the Bayou Tigers will be taking a ton of momentum to La Costa after claiming a four-shot victory over AAC champion SMU, the fifth seed, and Clemson, the third seed out of the ACC.

   Lindblad looked like the professional she soon will be, rattling off three straight 4-under 68s over the 6,376-yard, par-72 Traditions layout to capture the individual title by three shots with a 12-under 204 total. It was the 15^th tournament crown of Lindblad’s brilliant collegiate career.

   Stone, the runnerup to Auburn’s Schofill in the all-SEC U.S. Women’s Amateur final at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles last summer, closed with a solid 3-under 69 to finish in a tie for sixth place with a 5-under 211 total.

   LSU was three shots behind SMU in a tie for third place going into Wednesday’s final round after carding a 1-under 287 in Tuesday’s second round, but the Bayou Tigers closed with a 5-under 283 to pull out the victory.

   SMU, seeded fifth, and Clemson, the three seed, finished in a tie for second place, each landing on 4-under 860 as the Mustangs closed with a 2-over 290 and the ACC Tigers matched par in the final round with a 288.

   The final two tickets to the NCAA Championship handed out at the Traditions went to a couple of LSU’s SEC rivals as Vanderbilt finished in fourth place, five shots behind SMU and Clemson at 1-over 865 and host Texas A&M, the second seed, ended up fifth with a 6-over 870 total.

   The Commodores closed with a sparkling 8-under 280, the best team round of the week. The Aggies struggled a little in the final round, finishing up with a 9-over 297.

   It was a frustrating finish for Ohio State, the sixth seed out of the Big Ten under the direction of head coach Lisa Strom, the PIAA champion in 1994 during a standout scholastic career at Lansdale Catholic. The Buckeyes closed with a 4-over 292 to finish five shots behind Texas A&M in sixth place with an 11-over 275 total.

   Backing up Lindblad and Stone for LSU was Carla Tejedo, a senior from Spain as she closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in the group tied for 13^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Aine Donegan, a junior from Ireland and No. 91 in the Women’s WAGR, also closed with a solid 1-over 73 for the Bayou Tigers to finish among a trio of players tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Rounding out the LSU lineup was Taylor Riley, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif. who closed with an 80 to finish in 58^th place with a 240 total.

   Clemson’s Annabelle Pancake, a senior from Zionsville, Ind. and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR, earned runnerup honors in the individual chase, finishing three shots behind Lindblad with a 9-under 207 total. Pancake surged into contention on the strength of a sizzling 6-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round, the low individual round of the tournament, before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Kansas State’s Carla Bernat, a junior from Spain and No. 25 in the Women’s WAGR, grabbed the lone available individual ticket to La Costa as she finished in a tie for third place with Vanderbilt’s Virginie Ding, a senior from China, and Texas A&M’s Adela Cernousek, a junior from France and No. 37 in the Women’s WAGR, as they landed on 7-under 209, two shots behind Pancake.

   Bernat, competing as an individual, carded her second straight 3-under 69 in the final round. Ding closed with a 2-under 70 and Cernousek led the way for Texas A&M by finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   In the Las Vegas Regional, Arkansas, the second seed, became the fourth team from the powerful SEC to claim a regional team title as the Razorbacks finished with an even-par 864 total at Spanish Trail Country Club for a four-shot victory.

   The desert winds kicked up in the final round, but Arkansas’ final round of 304 over the 6,665-yard, par-72 Spanish Trail layout was good enough to earn the team title.

   The Razorbacks were led by Kajal Mistry, a fifth-year player from South Africa who earned a share of medalist honors with UCLA’s Zoe Antoniette Campos, a junior from Valencia, Calif. and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on 6-under 210.

   Mistry had added a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round to her sparkling opening round of 6-under 66 before closing with a 3-over 75 in the final round’s tough conditions.

   Purdue, the sixth seed out of the Big Ten, also closed with a 304 in the final round to earn runnerup honors with a 4-over 868 total.

   Baylor, the seventh seed out of the Big 12, closed with a 6-over 294, easily the best score in the wind-blown final round, to finish four shots behind Purdue in third place with an 8-over 872 total.

   Top-seeded UCLA, out of the Pac-12, closed with a 302 to finish in fourth place, four shots behind Baylor with a 12-over 876 total. Bottom line: The Bruins are headed back to California for the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad.

   Campos led the way for UCLA as she surged into contention on the strength of a 7-under 65 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73 to finish tied atop the leaderboard with Arkansas’ Mistry at 6-under.

   Florida State, the four seed out of the ACC, closed with a 303 to grab the final berth out of Las Vegas to the NCAA Championship as the Seminoles finished in fifth place, two shots behind UCLA with a 14-over 878 total.

   Backing up Mistry for Arkansas was Kendall Todd, a junior from Goodyear, Ariz. who finished in a tie for sixth place, closing with a 4-over 76 for a 1-under 215 total. Todd contributed a sparkling 6-under 66 for the Razorbacks in Tuesday’s second round.

   Maria Jose Marin, a freshman from Colombia and No. 20 in the Women’s WAGR, gave Arkansas a third finisher inside the top eight as she landed in a trio tied for eighth place at even-par 216 after closing with a 5-over 77.

   Rounding out the Arkansas lineup were Reagan Zibilski, a sophomore from Springfield, Mo., and Miriam Ayora, a senior from Spain, as they both landed among the group tied for 36^th place at 10-over 226. Zibilski closed with her second straight 4-over 76 while Ayora struggled to a 79 in the final round.

   Florida State’s Lottie Woad, a sophomore from England and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled in the final round with a 6-over 78, but still finished in third place, two shots behind the co-medalists with a 4-under 212 total.

   Woad had quite an April, winning the title in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and making the cut and playing four rounds in the Chevron Championship, the first major championship of the year on the LPGA Tour.  She had a one-shot lead going into the final round at Spanish Trail after carding a second straight 5-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round before backing off a little in the final round.

   The Baylor pair of Ashleen Kaur, a freshman from Houston, Texas, and Sera Hasegawa, a junior from Japan, finished in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings, each landing on 3-under 213. Kaur was the only player in the field to break 70 with her 3-under 69 in the difficult conditions of the final round while Hasegawa carded her third straight 1-under 71 in the final round.

   Purdue junior Natasha Kiel, a New Hope resident who starred scholastically at George School, was in the lineup for the Boilermakers throughout the week in Las Vegas. She closed with an 80 to finish in the group tied for 36^th place with a 10-over 226 total.

   Kiel is in her first season at Purdue after spending her two years at Vanderbilt. If she makes the lineup for the Boilermakers, she’ll get to see some of her told teammates at Vandy at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

   After three days of regionals, it’s obvious that the NCAA Championship at the Champions Course at La Costa will be a wild ride with most of the top amateur players on the planet vying for individual and team honors.