Lam, Jiratthitinun lead the way as Penn State claims team title in Nittany Lion Invitational

 

   Penn State, getting solid performances from Audrey Lam, a freshman from Belgium, and Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun, a sophomore from Thailand, came on strong in the final round for a one-shot victory in a tightly-contested 49^th playing of the Nittany Lion Invitational, which wrapped up Monday at Penn State’s Blue Course.

   Penn State, a Big Ten representative, emerged from Sunday’s double round in second place, three shots behind Yale, out of the Ivy League.

   But the Nittany Lions closed with a solid 6-over-par 294 in Monday’s final round to hold off hard-charging Delaware, in its first season as a member of Conference USA, by a shot with a 14-over 878 total.

   It was the first tournament victory for Kristen Simpson, Penn State’s third-year head coach, and the 26^th time that the Nittany Lions have claimed the title in their home tournament.

   Penn State has captured the team title in the Nittany Lion Invitational in six of the last 10 years, but this was the first time it claimed the crown since 2022.

   Penn State had opened with a 7-over 295 before adding a solid 1-over 289 in the afternoon of Sunday’s double round.

   Lam was really solid in that double round with a pair of 1-under 71s over the 6,363-yard, par-72 Blue Course layout. She closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings with Penn’s Mi Li, a freshman from Orlando, Fla., at 1-under 215.

   Jirrathitinun was Penn State’s most consistent performer as a freshman a year ago. After struggling in the opening round with a 4-over 76, she posted a 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73 to end up among a group of four players tied for seventh place at 3-over 219.

   Delaware, behind junior Mary Grace Dunigan, who starred scholastically at Unionville, finished strong with the best team round of the tournament, a 2-under 286, that left the Blue Hens a shot behind Penn State in second place in the team standings with a 15-over 879 total.

   Delaware struggled a little in Sunday’s double round, adding a 9-over 297 in the afternoon to its opening round of 8-over 296.

   Dunigan, who led Unionville to the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a junior in 2020, sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair even-par 72s that left her alone in sixth place in the individual standings with a 1-over 217 total.

   Yale, behind individual champion Mia Sessa, a senior from Augusta, Ga., finished a shot behind Delaware in third place with a 16-over 880 total.

   The Bulldogs had opened with a 1-under 287 and added a 6-over 294 in Sunday’s second round that gave them a three-shot lead over Penn State heading into Monday’s final round. Yale struggled a little in the final round with an 11-over 299.

   Sessa fueled Yale’s strong start with a sparkling 6-under 66 in the opening round, the best individual round of the tournament. She matched par in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 1-over 73 for a 5-under 211 that gave her a two-shot victory over Maryland’s Surapa Janthamunee, a senior from Thailand.

   Janthamunee’s runnerup finish in the individual standings led Maryland, one of Penn State’s Big Ten rivals, to a fourth-place finish as the Terrapins ended up a shot behind Yale with a 17-over 881 total.

   After struggling in the opening round with a 300, Maryland bounced back with a 2-over 290 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-over 291.

   Janthamunee sandwiched a solid 3-under 69 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s that left her two shots behind Sessa in second place in the individual chase with a 3-under 213 total.

   Maryland and Penn State wrapped up the wraparound 2024-2025 season last spring with respective 13^th- and 15^th-place finishes in the Big Ten Championship at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.

   Navy, the two-time reigning Patriot League champion, finished 12 shots behind Maryland in fifth place with a 29-over 893 total. After opening with a 9-over 297, Navy added a 301 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 7-over 295.

   Penn, one of Yale’s Ivy League rivals, finished two shots behind Navy in sixth place in the 16-team field with a 31-over 895 total. The Quakers, in their season opener, bounced back from an opening-round 305 with a solid 2-over 290 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 300.

   Li led the way for Penn as she sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to join Penn State’s Lam in the tie for fourth place at 1-under.

   Backing up Lam and Jiratthitinun for Penn State was Mara King, another freshman from St. Mary’s, Fla. who finished in a tie for 17^th place with a 5-over 221 total. King sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-over 74s.

   Sophomore Hannah Rabb, the PIAA Class AA champion as a junior at Warrior Run in 2022, finished among the group tied for 23^rd place at 7-over 223 as she sandwiched a 2-over 74 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 3-over 75s.

   Rabb, winner of the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur this summer at Valley Brook Country Club, had a solid freshman season at James Madison before transferring to Penn State.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was yet another freshman, Lillian Guleserian of Westwood, Mass., who finished among a trio tied for 36^th place with an 11-over 227 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Guleserian recorded back-to-back 3-over 75s.

   Simpson took the opportunity of Penn State’s home tournament to give three of her players a chance to compete as individuals and Lauren Thompstone, a sophomore from France, responded with a strong showing, finishing in the group tied for 19^th place with a 6-over 222 total.

   Thompstone tallied a pair of 1-over 73s in Sunday’s double round before closing with a 4-over 76.

   Sophomore Gwendolyn Powell, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at North Pocono, finished in the group tied for 61^st place at 235 as she added a 6-over 78 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 76 before closing with an 81.

   Myranda Quinton, a sophomore from Canada, rounded out the Penn State contingent as she finished in the group tied for 66^th place at 236. Quinton added a 4-over 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 81 before finishing up with a 79.

   Guleserian got her Penn State career off to a nice start as the was the leading lady for the Nittany Lions in their season opener against a tough field in the Cougar Classic Sept. 8^th and 9^th.  Guleserian finished in a tie for 34^th place with a 2-over 215 total at the Yeamans Hall Club in Hanahan, S.C.

   Penn State finished in 16^th place in an 18-team field that included some of the top teams in the country.

   A name familiar to followers of the Pennsylvania scholastic scene, Duquesne sophomore Sasha Petrochko, who played on three straight PIAA Class AA championship teams during an outstanding high school career at Hickory, finished in third place in the individual standings in the Nittany Lion Invitational with a 2-under 214 total.

   Petrochko was solid in Sunday’s double round with a pair of 2-under 70s before finishing up with a 2-over 74.

   Rounding out the foursome tied with Penn State’s Jirrathitinun at 3-over were Bucknell’s Sophia Bardunias, a sophomore from San Ramon, Calif., Quinnipiac’s Sophia Fujita, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif. and Sessa’s Yale teammate, Anya Mathur, a freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Bardunias opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 76. Fujita added a solid 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening round of 2-over 74 before finishing up with a 75.

   Mathur gave Yale a second finisher inside the top seven as she matched par in both ends of Sunday’s double round with a pair of 72s before closing with a 3-over 75.

   Dunigan had a couple of other District One standouts of recent vintage backing her up for Delaware as freshman Rhianna Gooneratne, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Plymouth-Whitemarsh in 2023, finished among the group tied for 11^th place at 4-over 220, and sophomore Kate Roberts, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Phoenixville, finished in a tie for 28^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Gooneratne is coming off a strong final summer of junior golf as she earned spots in the field for both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga. and the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

   Gooneratne matched par at Penn State’s Blue Course with a 72 in Sunday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 3-over 75. She closed with a 1-over 73.

   Kate Roberts had joined the program at Mountain West Conference power San Jose State for the 2024-’25 season, but decided to come back closer to home and join Patty Post’s program at Delaware.

   I had been tipped off to that fact when Kate Roberts teamed with her sister Kayley, a senior at Phoenixville and one of the top scholastic players in Pennsylvania, to take medalist honors in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier for next spring’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship with a 6-under 65 Sept. 11^th at Bent Creek Country Club in Lititz.

   Kate and Kayley Roberts led the way for Phoenixville when the Phantoms claimed the PIAA Class AAA team crown in 2022.

   In the Nittany Lion Invitational, Kate Roberts opened with a 2-over 74, but struggled to an 82 in Sunday afternoon’s second round. But Kate Roberts flashed her considerable talent by finishing up with a sparkling 4-under 68.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup were Hyunji Kim, a sophomore from England, and Anushka Sawant, a sophomore from South Brunswick, N.J., as they both finished among the group tied for 30^th place at 9-over 225.

   Kim added a 5-over 77 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a solid 1-over 73. Sawant was the picture of consistency, registering three straight 3-over 75s.

   Junior Marissa Malosh, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during an outstanding scholastic career at South Fayette, teed it up as an individual for Delaware and finished among the group tied for 56^th place with a 234 total.

   Malosh struggled in the opening round with an 80, bounced back with a 1-over 73 in Sunday afternoon’s second round, but struggled again in the final round with an 81.

   Next spring’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. will have a decidedly Delaware look as Dunigan and Malosh won a playoff at Bent Creek for the second berth to U.S. Women’s Four-Ball and will join the Roberts sisters in the field.

   The Nittany Lion Invitational was Delaware’s third tournament of the still young season.

   Gooneratne had an immediate impact for the Blue Hens as she led them in their season opener against a tough field in the Golfweek Fall Challenge Sept. 7^th through 9^th at the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club on Pawley’s Island, S.C.

   In her college debut, Gooneratne finished in a tie for 29^th place with a 4-over 218 total. Delaware finished in 18^th place in the 20-team field.

   Dunigan was the leading lady for Delaware as the Blue Hens earned a runnerup finish in the Badger Invitational Sept. 14^th and 15^th at the University Ridge Course in Madison, Wis.

   Dunigan finished in a tie for third place with a 7-under 209 total. Gooneratne posted her first college top-10 finish by landing in a tie for 10^th place with an even-par 216 total.

   Backing up Li for Penn was Adrienne Ahn-Upton, a freshman from Dallas, Texas, as she ended up in the group tied for 30^th place at 9-over 225. After struggling to an 82 in the opening round, Ahn-Upton bounced back with a solid 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Bridget O’Keefe, a sophomore from Palo Alto, Calif., and Julie Shin, a sophomore from Brambleton, Va., finished among the trio tied for 44^th place at 230 for the Quakers.

   O’Keefe sandwiched a solid even-par 72 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 7-over 79s. Shin added a 4-over 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 79.

   O’Keefe and Shin teamed up in the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball qualifier at Bent Creek and lost out in the playoff to Delaware’s Dunigan and Malosh. They are the first alternates out of Bent Creek, so a trip to Daniel Island in May isn’t entirely out of the question.

   Rounding out the Penn lineup was Claire Lu, a sophomore from Edison, N.J. who finished in the group tied for 56^th place at 234. Lu got a little better in each round, opening with a 7-over 79, adding a 78 in Sunday afternoon’s second round and closing with a 77.

   Junior Nicole Yun, who had an outstanding scholastic career at Spring-Ford, got a shot to compete as an individual for Bucknell, a Patriot League representative, and responded with a solid showing, finishing in the group tied for 23^rd place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Yun was solid in Sunday’s double round, opening with a 1-over 73 and adding a 74 in the afternoon before closing with a 76.

   Bucknell finished in ninth place in the team standings with a 48-over 913 total.