When I last posted on the Penn State women’s golf team, it had just captured the team title as the host of the Nittany Lion Invitational in September. It was the first tournament title for Kristen Simpson in her third year at the helm with the Nittany Lions.
Simpson’s squad took the momentum it gained from winning its home tournament and added two strong performances in October, a tie for third place in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, hosted by Southeastern Conference power Tennessee at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn., and a share of the team crown in the Evie Odom Invitational, hosted by Sun Belt Conference representative Old Dominion at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va.
In last week’s Scoreboard powered by clippd rankings, Penn State had climbed to No. 71.
I’ve been following the Penn State program closely for almost a decade since my 38-year career in the newspaper business came to a sudden end. There have been some solid teams, but the Nittany Lions were never really close to earning a spot in an NCAA regional when the bids went out in late April.
A victory in the inaugural National Golf Invitational in the spring of 2023 -- a pretty nice parting gift for long-time Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre – at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz. indicated that the Nittany Lions were probably deserving of a bid to an NCAA Regional.
But in considering those regional bids, the NCAA leans heavily on the rankings, Golfstat until a couple of years ago and now the Scoreboard rankings. And slow starts in the fall always seemed to doom any chance Penn State might have had of moving up in the rankings in the spring.
But with a starting spot of No. 71 for the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026, Penn State is better positioned to make a run at a regional bid than it has been in a long time.
Penn State doesn’t have a realistic shot at winning the Big Ten Championship and earning the conference’s automatic bid to the regionals. A Big Ten that has always been tough got exponentially more difficult last year with the addition of former Pac-12 powers Oregon, which captured the Big Ten title in its debut in the conference championship and is No. 3 in the current Scoreboard rankings, Southern California, currently No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, UCLA and Washington.
And don’t forget that it was an original Big Ten member, Northwestern, that claimed the national title last May when it stunned Stanford in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The six players Simpson took with her to the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship and the Evie Odom Invitational were all freshmen or sophomores. This is her team now and her youngsters really showed up in the Nittany Lions’ final two events of the fall.
Audrey Lam, a freshman from Belgium, has been the leading lady for Penn State.
She finished in a tie for fourth place in the Nittany Lion Invitational to lead Penn State to the team title.
Lam was again the low Lion, finishing in a tie for 13th place in the individual standings, as Penn State got a share of third place in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, which wrapped up Oct. 7th at Cherokee.
Lam and sophomore Hannah Rabb, the PIAA Class AA champion as a junior at Warrior Run in 2022 who came home after spending her freshman season at James Madison, were both among the group tied for seventh place in the individual chase in the Evie Odom Invitational, just behind another Penn State freshman, Mara King of St. Mary, Fla. who finished alone in sixth.
Coming off its victory in the Nittany Lion Invitational, Penn State put together rounds of 3-over-par 287 and even-par 284 over the 5,990-yard, par-71 Cherokee layout in the first two rounds to move into contention in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship in Knoxville.
The Nittany Lions closed with another 3-over 287 to finish in a tie for third place with Chattanooga, a Southern Conference representative, and Western Kentucky, the reigning Conference USA champion, each landing on 6-over 858.
Tennessee, which has been making inroads in the tough SEC and is now No. 25 in the Scoreboard rankings, captured the team title with a 13-under 839 total.
After opening with a 4-under 280, the Volunteers added a 2-over 286 in the second round before pulling away from the field with a final round of 11-under 273. Penn State was only five shots behind Tennessee going into the final round.
Tennessee earned a trip to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring by finishing in fourth place as a six seed in the Lubbock Regional.
Oregon State, No. 43 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished nine shots behind Tennessee in second place with a 4-under 848 total. The Beavers opened with a solid 1-under 283, added a 4-under 280 in the second round and closed with a 1-over 285.
Abandoned following the implosion of the Pac-12, Oregon State joined the West Coast Conference for the wraparound 2024-’25 season and proceeded to capture the first team title in a conference championship in the history of the program.
Chattanooga and Western Kentucky are in the same ballpark as Penn State.
The Moccasins, No. 80 in the latest Scoreboard rankings, matched Penn State’s opening round of 3-over 287, added a 2-under 282 in the second round and finished up with a 5-over 289.
The Hilltoppers, No. 77 in the latest Scoreboard rankings, opened with a 9-over 293 and added a 2-over 286 in the second round before making a big move in the final round with a 5-under 279.
Oregon State’s Kyra Ly, a senior from Portland, Ore., and Western Kentucky’s Sydney Hackett, shared individual honors in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, each ending up with an 11-under 202 total.
Ly signed for back-to-back 3-under 68s in the first two rounds before closing with a sparkling 5-under 66.
Hackett was only a shot behind Ly going into the final round after adding a 3-under 68 in the second round to her opening-round 69. Hackett closed with a sizzling 6-under 65 to catch Ly for a share of the individual title.
Lam and Rabb, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, were both really steady at Cherokee.
After opening with a 2-under 69, Lam added a 1-over 72 in the second round before matching par in the final round to finish in a tie for 13th place with a 1-under 212 total.
After opening with a 1-over 72, Rabb matched par in each of the final two rounds with back-to-back 71s to end up among a trio tied for 17th place with a 1-over 214 total.
Lillian Guleserian, a freshman from Westwood, Mass., was solid in the first two rounds, matching par in the opening round with a 71 and adding a 1-under 70 in the second round. She backed off in the final round with a 6-over 77 to finish in a tie for 29th place with a 5-over 218 total.
King bounced back from an opening round of 7-over 78 by matching par in the second round with a 71 and closing with a 1-over 72 as she finished in the group tied for 40th place with an 8-over 221 total.
Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun, a sophomore from Thailand who was Penn State’s best player as a freshman, rounded out the Penn State lineup in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship as she opened with a 4-over 75 and added a 78 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 73 to finish among the group tied for 52nd place with a 226 total.
Lauren Thompstone, a sophomore from France, competed as an individual for Penn State at Cherokee and finished in the group tied for 31st place with a 6-over 219 total. Thompstone matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added back-to-back 3-over 74s in the final two rounds.
In the Evie Odom Invitational, which wrapped up Oct. 18th at Princess Anne, Penn State shared the top spot on the leaderboard with Big Ten rival Maryland, each landing on 14-over 854. It was Penn State’s third top-three finish in four fall starts.
The Nittany Lions struggled a little in the opening round with a 294 over the 5,824-yard, par-70 Princess Anne layout, but bounced back with a 2-over 282 in the second round before finishing with a flourish, getting it in red figures with a 4-under 276 that enabled them to catch the Terrapins.
Maryland, No. 78 in the latest Scoreboard rankings, is a program with a similar profile to the one Penn State has. The Terrapins opened with a 291, surged up the leaderboard with a 1-under 279 in the second round and closed with a 4-over 284.
Maryland finished in 13th place in last spring’s Big Ten Championship at the Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md. while Penn State ended up 15th.
The two Big Ten teams finished five shots ahead of SEC power Georgia, No. 62 in the Scoreboard rankings. The Bulldogs opened with a 5-over 285 and added an 8-over 288 in the second round before closing with a 6-over 286 that left them in third place with a 19-over 859 total.
Maryland was led by Surapa Janthamunee, a senior from Thailand who finished in a tie for second place with North Florida’s Kaitlyn Schroeder, a redshirt junior home girl from Jacksonville, Fla., each ending up with a 1-under 209 total.
After opening with a 1-over 71, Janthamunee recorded back-to-back 1-under 69s in the final two rounds.
Schroeder was the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Player of the Year in 2022 and headed to Alabama as one of the nation’s top recruits. But after a year with the Crimson Tide, Schroeder came home to play for her dad, Scott, the director of golf at North Florida.
Schroeder opened with a 1-over 71, matched par with a 70 in the second round and finished up with a 1-under 69.
The individual crown went to South Alabama’s Daniela Palmeros, a freshman from Jersey Village, Texas who finished with a 4-under 206 total that earned her her first collegiate victory by three shots.
After opening with a 1-over 71, Palmeros tallied a 2-under 68 in the second round before closing with a sparkling 3-under 67 that matched the low individual round of the tournament.
King led a trio of Nittany Lions among the top seven as she carded back-to-back 1-over 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-under 69 that left her alone in sixth place with a 1-over 211 total.
Lam and Rabb were part of a large group a shot behind King in a tie for seventh place at 2-over 212.
After struggling a little in the opening round with a 4-over 74, Lam finished up her outstanding fall campaign with back-to-back 1-under 69s. Rabb opened with a 2-over 72 and added a 1-over 71 in the second round before finishing up her first fall as a Nittany Lion with a 1-under 69.
Jiratthitinun bounced back from an opening-round 79 with back-to-back 1-over 71s as she finished among the group tied for 40th place with an 11-over 221 total.
Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Guleserian as she recorded back-to-back 77s in the first two rounds before closing with a 4-over 74 to finish in the group tied for 56th place with a 226 total.
Thompstone again joined the Penn State contingent, competing as an individual and again let it be known she’ll be competing for a spot among the Nittany Lions’ first five by finishing in the group tied for 31st place with a 9-over 219 total. After registering back-to-back 4-over 74s in the first two rounds, Thompstone closed with a solid 1-over 71.
Penn State hasn’t released its spring schedule yet with the exception of the Big Ten Championship, which will head west in a nod to the conference’s new western wing and be played at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calif.
It will be interesting to see what Simpson lines up for her young Lions in the leadup to the Big Ten Championship.
Noticed senior Hannah Lydic, who starred scholastically at Sussex Academy, in the lineup for Richmond in the Evie Odom Invitational. Lydic led the Spiders to the Atlantic 10 title in their first year in the conference by capturing the individual title last spring at the Evermore Resort in Orlando, Fla.
Lydic finished in a tie for 44th place at Princess Anne, adding a 5-over 75 in the second round to her opening-round 76 before closing with a 1-over 71 for a 12-over 222 total.
Richmond was the last of the 12 teams in the Evie Odom Invitational field with a 50-over 890 total.
No comments:
Post a Comment