The end of the Pac-12 was just a new beginning for a program like Southern California.
All four semifinalists in last spring’s NCAA Championship at the La Costa Spa & Resort’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. were from the Pac-12, a proud conference that was in its death throes, the breakup mostly due to the changing landscape of college sports – pssst, just football really.
In women’s golf, the league clearly went out with a flourish, eventual champion Stanford, Southern Cal, Oregon and UCLA saying out loud: You can take our league away, but we’ve always had the best teams in this sport.
Southern Cal is in the Big Ten now and it faced some of its rivals in the new league as Ohio State played host to what has become one of the highlights of the early part of the spring portion of college golf’s wraparound season, the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, which wrapped up Tuesday at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Southern Cal, No. 4 in the Scoreboard, presented by clippd, rankings surged in front on the strength of a sparkling 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round before holding off Oregon, another Pac-12 refugee that fled to the Big Ten, by five shots to capture the team title in the Therese Hession, named for the legendary Ohio State women’s golf head coach.
It was the fourth team title for the Women of Troy in the wraparound 2024-2025 season as they capped the fall portion of their schedule by capturing the title in the East Lake Cup, the annual event at the East Lake Club in Atlanta that brings together the previous season’s top teams with a format that mimics the NCAA Championship.
Southern Cal shared first place with host Stanford in the Stanford Invitational at the Stanford Golf Course and captured the title in The Leadership & Golf Invitational at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. to go along with their East Lake Cup win.
Southern Cal opened with a 2-under 282 over the 6,017-yard, par-71 Palos Verdes layout and then took control with its 277 in Monday’s second round. The Trojans matched par with a 284 in Tuesday’s final round for a 9-under 843 total.
Oregon, No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings closed with a fairly spectacular 12-under 272 in the final round as the Ducks finished in second place with a 4-under 848 total. Oregon had opened with a solid 1-under 283, but struggled a little with a 9-over 293 in Monday’s second round.
Oregon was led by Kirara Romero, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif. who has risen to No. 12 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and was the runnerup in the Therese Hession individual standings with a 6-under 207 total.
Romero, winner of the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., opened with a 1-under 70 at Palos Verdes and added a 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-under 68.
Nobody was going to catch Kary Hollenbaugh, a junior from New Albany, Ohio and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR, for the individual title as Hollenbaugh became the first Ohio State player to capture the crown in an event that Buckeyes were hosting for the 29th time.
Hollenbaugh carded back-to-back 3-under 68s in the first two rounds and did that one better in the final round with a 4-under 67 for a 10-under 293 total that was four shots clear of Romero.
I usually put together posts on the Orange Blossom Tour events in South Florida in January and Hollenbaugh captured the title in The Sally, a venerable stop on that unofficial group of amateur events each winter, for the second straight year with a dominating performance at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach, Fla.
So, this didn’t come out of nowhere. Hollenbaugh has been playing at a high level. And she had to be to dust a really strong field in the Therese Hession.
Southern Cal was paced by its senior leader Xin (Cindy) Kou of China as she finished a shot behind Romero in third place in the individual standings with a 5-under 208 total. After opening with a solid 3-under 68, Kou produced steady back-to-back rounds of 1-under 70s.
Southern Cal’s lineup features two players in the top five in the Women’s WAGR in Jasmine Koo, a freshman from Cerritos, Calif. at No. 2, and Catherine Park, a junior from Irvine, Calif., at No. 5.
Koo, who reached the semifinals in last summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif., had the individual lead going into Tuesday’s final round as she backed up an opening round of 1-under 70 with a sizzling 6-under 65 in Monday’s second round.
Koo struggled in the final round with a 5-over 76 to finish three shots behind her teammate Kou in a tie for fourth place with a 2-under 211 total.
Park, a member of the U.S. team that dropped a hard-fought decision to Great Britain & Ireland in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England, opened with a 1-under 70 at Palos Verdes and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a 1-over 72 as she finished among a group of five players tied for eighth place with an even-par 213 total.
Texas, which left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference this season, finished in third place in the team standings with a 2-over 854 total that left it six shots behind Oregon. The Longhorns, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings, bounced back from an opening round of 7-over 291 with a 4-under 280 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 283.
Texas advanced to the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing second as a two seed in the Bermuda Run Regional, but was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
The Longhorns were led at Palos Verdes by Faith O’Keefe, a sophomore home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings with Southern Cal’s Koo at 2-under 211.
After opening with a 2-over 73, O’Keefe posted a solid 3-under 68 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 70.
A couple of Texas’ SEC rivals, South Carolina, No. 3 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Florida, No. 26 in the Scoreboard rankings, held down the next two spots in the team standings with the Gamecocks finishing in fourth place with a 4-over 856 total that left them two shots behind the Longhorns and the Gators ending up fifth, a shot behind South Carolina with a 5-over 857 total.
After opening with a solid 2-under 282, South Carolina struggled a little in Monday’s second round with a 290 before matching par in the final round with a 284.
South Carolina advanced to the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing in a tie for fourth place as the top seed in the Auburn Regional, but was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
Florida, coming off a victory in the Sea Best Intercollegiate at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla., the Gators’ third straight tournament title going back to last fall, matched par in the opening round at Palos Verdes with a 284 and added a 4-under 280 in Monday’s second round, but struggled in the final round with a 293.
Hollenbaugh’s outstanding individual performance helped host Ohio State, No. 29 in the Scoreboard rankings, finish in sixth place in the elite 16-team field as the Buckeyes finished two shots behind Florida with a 7-over 859 total.
Ohio State, under the guidance of head coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, struggled a little in the opening round with a 294, but bounced back with solid rounds of 1-under 283 in Monday’s second round and 2-under 282 in the final round.
Ohio State just missed a trip to the NCAA Championship last spring, finishing in sixth place as the six seed in the Bryan Regional. I’m quite certain Strom wants the Buckeyes to take the next step this spring.
Backing up Kou, Koo and Park for Southern California was Kylie Chong, a freshman from Torrance, Calif. who finished among the trio tied for 15th place with a 2-over 215 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Chong matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a solid 1-unbder 70.
Rounding out the lineup for Southern Cal was Bailey Shoemaker, a junior from Dade City, Fla. and No. 42 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in the group tied for 21st place with a 5-over 217 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Shoemaker recorded back-to-back 1-over 72s.
Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, a freshman from Thailand, gave Oregon a second finisher inside the top six as she ended up in a tie for sixth place with Florida’s Paul Francisco, a sophomore from Spain, each landing on 1-under 212.
Vinijchaitham made a huge move up the leaderboard in the final round, edging Southern Cal’s Koo for the low round of the week with a blistering 7-under 64. Vinijchaitham had opened with a 1-over 72 before adding a 5-over 76 in Monday’s second round.
After opening with a 2-over 73, Francisco added a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 69.
Among the group that joined Southern Cal’s Park in the quintet tied for eighth place at even-par was Arizona State’s Patience Rhodes, a redshirt sophomore from England and No. 38 in the Women’s WAGR. Rhodes was one of the heroes for GB&I in its Curtis Cup victory over Park and the U.S. at Sunningdale.
Rhodes opened with a 1-under 70 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a 1-over 72.
Rounding out the group tied at even-par were San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez Ortega, a senior from Spain, Miami’s Rebekah Gardner, a sophomore from Northern Ireland and O’Keefe’s Texas teammate, Tiffany Cao, a senior from Midlothian, Texas.
After registering back-to-back 1-over 72s in the first two rounds, Lopez Ortega finished up strong with a 2-under 69.
Gardner also saved her best for last, signing for a 4-under 67 in the final round to get back to even-par. Gardner had posted back-to-back 2-over 73s in the first rounds.
After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Cao added a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 72.
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