Lee, Ly lead the way as UCLA beats a loaded field to claim team crown in Therese Hession Regional Challenge

 

   Teams from all over the country gathered for the Therese Hession Regional Challenge this week, the tournament hosted by Ohio State and named for its legendary former head coach at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

   For UCLA, however, it was just a quick trip down the 405, 25 miles or so from its campus in downtown Los Angeles.

   It probably helped that Southern California has been enjoying a quiet winter while big parts of the rest of the country have been shivering through the coldest winter in recent memory. Heck, they had to cancel the final round of the LPGA Tour’s season opener Sunday because it was too cold to play golf in Orlando, Fla.

   But give credit to the talented group that UCLA’s third-year head coach Alicia Um Holmes has put together. This was a loaded field and the Bruins were the only ones to finish under par in the team standings and bested that field by 11 shots.

   UCLA’s Jenny Lee, a sophomore from South Korea, lost in a playoff to Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 8 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), for the individual title after both finished with a 5-under-par 208 total over the 6,017-yard, par-71 Palos Verdes layout.

   But Lee and Kacey Ly, a freshman from Temple City, Calif. who finished alone in fourth place with a 3-under 210 total, led the way as UCLA, in its second year as a member of the Big Ten’s West Wing, captured the team crown in the Therese Hession, which wrapped up Tuesday.

   UCLA, which jumped from No. 23 to No. 11 in the latest Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings in the aftermath of its victory in the Therese Hession, opened with a 2-under 282 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 284 to take an eight-shot lead over Florida, a Southeastern Conference power, into the final round.

   The Bruins closed with a 6-under 278, the best team round of the tournament, to finish with an 8-under 844 total that was 11 shots clear of Texas, another SEC representative.

   UCLA was a non-factor in its debut in the Big Ten Championship last spring in unfamiliar surroundings at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md. But the Bruins were seeded fifth in the Charlottesville Regional and finished in fifth place to earn a trip back to Cali to play in the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Lee seemed right at home over the Palos Verdes layout, carding back-to-back 2-under 69s in the first two rounds to take a one-shot lead over O’Keefe into the final round. Lee closed with a 1-under 70 to get it to 5-under.

   O’Keefe was fresh from a practice session for candidates for the United States Curtis Cup team at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, which will host the tradition-rich event which pits the U.S. against top amateurs from Great Britain & Ireland in June.

   O’Keefe was also a member of the U.S. team that hoisted the Espirito Santo Trophy that goes to the winner of the World Amateur Team Championship as the Red, White & Blue prevailed in a tiebreaker after finishing in a tie with Spain and South Korea in October in Singapore.

   After matching par in the opening round at Palos Verdes with a 71, O’Keefe posted a 3-under 68 that enabled her to creep within a shot of Lee going into the final round. O’Keefe caught Lee at 5-under with a final round of 2-under 69 and then claimed the individual title, the second of her career, in a playoff.

   Texas’ Cindy Hsu, a senior from Taiwan, was just a shot behind Lee and O’Keefe in third place with a 4-under 209 total. Hsu matched par in each of the first two rounds with back-to-back 71s before closing with a 4-under 67, matching the low individual round of the tournament.

   Lauren Kim, a junior from Canada and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR, gave the Longhorns three finishers in the top five as she ended up in fifth place, a shot behind UCLA’s Ly with a 2-under 214 total. Kim matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-over 72 and closed with a solid 3-under 68.

   Texas, which moved up two spots from No. 11 to No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings with its runnerup finish at Palos Verdes, opened with a 6-over 290 and added a 2-over 286 in Monday’s second round before finishing with a flourish, a 5-under 279 in the final round that gave the Longhorns a runnerup finish with a 3-over 855 total.

   Texas earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring before falling to Big Ten champion Oregon in the quarterfinals.

   Texas A&M improved from No. 7 to No. 5 in the Scoreboard ranking as the Aggies finished six shots behind their SEC and ancient in-state rival Texas in third place with a 9-over 861 total.

   The Aggies opened with a 2-over 286 and added a 7-over 291 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 284.

   Texas A&M was led by Brynn Kort, a freshman from Kingman, Ariz. who finished in a tie for sixth place with Florida’s Siuue Wu, a sophomore from Hong Kong, each landing on 1-under 212.

   Kort opened with a sparkling 3-under 68 and struggled a little in Monday’s second round with a 4-over 75 before closing with a solid 2-under 69.

   It was an excruciating finish to the wraparound 2024-2025 season for the Aggies last spring as they lost in a playoff to Purdue for the final berth to the NCAA Championship out of the Lubbock Regional. Texas A&M was the four seed in Lubbock.

   Florida, coming off a victory in its spring opener at the Sea Best Intercollegiate in chilly Jacksonville, Fla. last week, continued its strong play as the Gators, runnerup in the SEC last spring, finished in fourth place, three shots behind Texas A&M with a 12-over 864 total.

   Florida had added a solid 2-under 282 in Monday’s second round to its opening round of 8-over 292 and was UCLA’s closest pursuer going into the final round at 6-over. The Gators closed with a 6-over 290.

   Coming into the Therese Hession ranked No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings, Florida retained its No. 6 spot after its fourth-place finish.

   Florida was led by Wu, who, after opening with a 3-over 74, tallied back-to-back 2-under 69s to join Texas A&M’s Kort in a tie for sixth place at 1-under.

   Florida earned a spot in the field for the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring by finishing in a tie for third place as a four seed in the Charlottesville Regional, but never got in the mix for a berth in the match-play bracket.

   Oregon, which claimed the team crown in its first try in the Big Ten Championship at Bulle Rock last spring, finished a shot behind Florida in fifth place with a 13-over 865 total.

   The Ducks, who maintained their No. 3 spot in the Scoreboard rankings with their fifth-place finish in the Therese Hession, got off to a slow start with a 10-over 294 and added a 4-over 288 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a solid 1-under 283.

   Oregon marched all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring before falling to eventual champion Northwestern in a tight match.

   A third member of the Big Ten’s West Wing, Southern California, and reigning SEC champion South Carolina finished in a tie for sixth place in the 16-team field as each ended up four shots behind Oregon with a 17-over 869 total.

   Southern Cal, which maintained its lofty No. 2 spot in the Scoreboard rankings following its showing in the Therese Hession, struggled in the opening round with a 303, but quickly found its footing with back-to-back 1-under 283s in the final t wo rounds.

   The Trojans earned a spot in the match-play bracket – as they always seem to do – in last spring’s NCAA Championship at La Costa before falling to a really strong Florida State team in the quarterfinals.

   South Carolina, which dropped a spot in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 18 to No. 19 following the Therese Hession, came on strong in the final round with a 5-under 279. The Gamecocks got off to a slow start, opening with a 12-over 296 and adding a 10-over 294 in Monday’s second round.

   South Carolina was led by Vairana Heck, a junior from France who finished in a tie for ninth place in the individual standings with Texas A&M’s Vanessa Borovilos, a sophomore from Canada and No. 33 in the Women’s WAGR, and Kansas’ Kinslea Jones, a precocious freshman from Wichita, Kan. competing as an individual, as they all landed on 1-over 214.

   Heck posted back-to-back 2-over 73s in the first two rounds before finishing up strong with a 3-under 68 that sparked the Gamecocks’ final-round surge.

   After rolling to the team title as the top seed in the Charlottesville Regional in the final act of the Hannah Darling-Louise Rydqvist era at South Carolina, the Gamecocks finished two shots out of a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa.

   Backing up Lee for UCLA at Palos Verdes was a really impressive showing from the freshman Ly, who finished alone in fourth place with a 3-under 210 total. After struggling a little with a 3-under 74 in the opening round, Ly carded a solid 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round and was the low Bruin in the final round with a sparkling 4-under 67 that matched the low individual round of the tournament.

   UCLA also got a strong showing from Angela Liu, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. who finished among the trio tied for 12^th place at 2-over 215. After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Liu registered a solid 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Meghan Royal of Carlsbad, Calif. is the senior leader for this young group of Bruins and she finished in a tie for 15^th place, closing with a solid 3-under 68 to join the group at 3-over 216. Royal matched par in the opening round with a 71 before struggling a little with a 6-over 77 in Monday’s second round.

   As a sophomore, Royal won two matches on quarterfinal/semifinal day when the NCAA Championship was played at La Costa in her home town of Carlsbad for the first time to help send the Bruins to the Final Match, where they fell to Stanford in an appropriate curtain drop on Pac-12 golf.

   Rounding out the UCLA lineup was GaEun Athena Yoo, a freshman from Alpharetta, Ga. who finished in the group tied for 43^rd place with a 9-over 222 total. Athena Yoo matched par with a counting 71 in the opening round and added a 7-over 78 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 73.

   Um Holmes, the UCLA head coach, brought along Jennifer Seo, a junior from Chandler, Ariz., to compete as an individual and Seo closed with a solid 2-under 69 to climb into the group tied for 53^rd place at 224. Seo opened with a 7-over 78 before adding a 77 in Monday’s second round.

   A couple of strong showings from a pair of players from the Big 12’s Kansas. In addition to the freshman Jones, competing as an individual, getting a share of ninth place at 1-over, Ebba Nordstedt, a sophomore from Sweden, did her teammate one better as she finished alone in eighth place at even-par 216.

   After opening with a 1-over 72, Nordstedt posted a 2-over 73 in Monday’s second round before closing with a sparkling 3-under 68.

   Jones had grabbed the individual lead with an opening round of 4-under 67, matching the low round of the tournament. She added a 3-over 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 73. Made a pretty strong case for a spot in the starting five for the Jayhawks.’

   Borovilos gave Texas A&M a second finisher in the top 10 as she opened with a solid 2-under 69 and added a 3-over 74 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71 to join Kansas’ Jones and South Carolina’s Heck in the tie for ninth place at 2-over.

   All those players who landed in the top 10 could boast that they finished ahead of some seriously talented players.

   Case in point was Oregon junior Kiara Romero, the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR from San Jose, Calif. who was co-low Duck, finishing among the group tied for 15^th place at 3-over 216.

   Romero was typically steady, opening with a 2-over 73 and matching par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a 72.

   Tough start to the spring for host Ohio State under head coach Lisa Strom, the Pennsylvania high school champion in 1994 as a senior at Lansdale Catholic.

   The Buckeyes, playing out of the Big Ten, finished in 12^th place with a 32-over 884 total. Such was the quality of the Therese Hession field, though, that Ohio State improved from No. 49 to No. 45 in the Scoreboard rankings.

   Nellie Ong, a sophomore from England and No. 80 in the Women’s WAGR led the way for Ohio State as she finished among the group tied for 27^th place with a 6-over 219 total. Ong struggled in the opening round with a 6-over 77, but bounced back with a 2-over 73 in Monday’s second round and finished strong with a solid 2-under 69.

   Kary Hollenbaugh, a senior from New Albany, Ohio and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR, couldn’t quite muster the magic of a year ago when she captured the individual title in the Therese Hession, a special achievement for an Ohio State player in the event named for the Buckeyes’ trailblazing head coach.

   After a couple of solid 1-over 72s in the first two rounds, Hollenbaugh struggled in the final round with a 77 to finish in a tie for 41^st place at 8-over 221 total.

   Still, Hollenbaugh was up the coast with O’Keefe and Romero and the rest of the best American amateur golfers at Bel-Air auditioning for a spot on the U.S. Curtis Cup team  couple of weeks ago.

   And earlier in January, Hollenbaugh earned a runnerup finish in the South Atlantic Women’s Amateur Championship – The Sally for short – at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach, Fla. in her bid to capture the title in the venerable stop on the old Orange Blossom Tour for a third straight time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schutte gets share of individual title to lead Arkansas to team crown in Purdue Puerto Rico Classic

 

   With Abbey Schutte, a junior from Goodyear, Ariz., clicking off her second straight individual title, with the reigning NCAA individual champion in the lineup and the midseason addition of a hotshot freshman from France, you need just two words to describe the outlook for the Arkansas women’s golf team right now: Look out.

   A perennial power in the Southeastern Conference, the most competitive circuit in college golf – really in college sports, period – the Razorbacks earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last spring’s NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., falling to eventual national champion Northwestern in the quarterfinals.

   Schutte won her match in that frustrating 3-2 setback to the Wildcats and she was one of three co-medalists in a loaded field in the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic, which wrapped up Monday at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, while leading Arkansas, No. 4 in the latest Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, to the team title.

   The Purdue Puerto Rico Classic has always been one of the first big events as the spring sprint to the NCAA postseason gets under way.

   Originally scheduled to be single rounds Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the threat of rainy weather prompted tournament officials to play a double round Sunday and hope to finish Monday or Tuesday.

   Arkansas proved worthy of its lofty ranking as the Razorbacks got off to a great start with a 9-under 279 in the opening round and a sizzling 13-under 275 in Sunday afternoon’s second round, the best team round of the tournament, to take a one-shot lead over revitalized
Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina going into Monday’s final round.

   I’m guessing some wind from approaching weather kicked up Monday as the scores were generally higher, but Arkansas’ solid final round of 1-under 287 gave it a 23-under 841 total that was easily good enough to defeat a couple of its SEC rivals, Mississippi and Vanderbilt, by six shots.

   Schutte fueled Sunday’s hot start for Arkansas as she opened with a 7-under 65, the low individual round of the tournament, and added a 67 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to build a one-shot lead over North Carolina’s Reagan Southerland, a junior from Atlanta, Ga., going into Monday’s final round.

   Schutte struggled a little in the final round with a 2-over 74, but her 10-under 206 total was good enough to give her a share of the individual crown with Southerland and Kansas State’s Kelsey Chen, a sophomore from China.

   Schutte had finished out the fall portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 college season by claiming an individual victory in The Ally at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. in October.

   Southerland was right on Schutte’s heels the whole way as she opened with a sparkling 6-under 66 and added a 67 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73, chipping in for birdie on her final hole to earn a share of the individual title at 10-under. It was her first collegiate individual win.

   Chen was three shots behind Schutte going into the final round after she added a 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 68. Chen closed with another 4-under 68 that enabled her to catch Schutte and Southerland at 10-under for her first collegiate victory.

   After opening with a 3-under 285, Ole Miss, No. 15 in the Scoreboard rankings, posted back-to-back 7-under 281s to earn a share of second place with a 17-under 847 total.

   The Rebels were led by Kajsalotta Svarvar, a sophomore from Sweden who finished two shots behind the trio at the top of the leaderboard in fourth place with an 8-under 208 total. Svarvar sandwiched a 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s.

   Ole Miss earned a trip to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring with a runnerup finish in the Charlottesville Regional, but was unable to claim a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Vanderbilt, No. 10 in the Scoreboard in the rankings, matched par in the opening round with a 288 before putting together two solid rounds, an 8-under 280 in Sunday afternoon’s second round and a 9-under 279 in the final round, the best team round of the day, to join Ole Miss at 17-under.

   The Commodores were led by none other than sophomore Angelina Tolentino, who starred scholastically at Lenape in South Jersey and captured the title in the 2024 Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship at Waynesborough Country Club.

   Tolentino had the best round of the day in Monday’s final round, a sparkling 5-under 67 that enabled her to join a group of five players tied for eighth place at 5-under 211. After opening with a 2-under 70, Tolentino fell back to even-par with a 2-over 74 in Sunday afternoon’s second round.

   Starting off the sixth tee in the shotgun start, Tolentino rattled off birdies at the sixth, ninth, 11^th, 12^th, 15^th and 17^th holes to get it to 6-under for the round before making a bogey at 18, the only blemish on her scorecard. It was Tolentino’s third top-10 finish in the wraparound 2025-’26 season.

   Vanderbilt earned a spot in the field in the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring by finishing in fifth place as a four seed in the Lexington Regional, but the Commodores were unable to land a berth in the match-play bracket.

   LSU, No. 33 in the Scoreboard rankings, made it an SEC sweep of the top four sports as the Tigers finished three shots behind Ole Miss and Vandy in fourth place with a 14-under 850 total.

   LSU was solid throughout, opening with a 5-under 283 and adding a 279 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   The Tigers were led by Rocio Tejedo, a sophomore from Spain and No. 26 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who finished in a tie for fifth place with Arkansas’ Reagan Zibilski, a senior from Springfield, Mo. and No. 43 in the Women’s WAGR, and Northwestern’s tenacious Dianna Lee, a senior from San Diego, Calif. and No. 80 in the Women’s WAGR, all of whom landed on 6-under 210.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Tejedo added a 4-under 68 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 70.

   Zibilski, backing up Schutte for the Razorbacks, rattled off three straight 2-under 70s to join the trio at 6-under.

   Lee, who cooly accounted for the clinching point in Northwestern’s semifinal victory over Oregon and again in the Final Match against Stanford to deliver a national title for the Wildcats at La Costa, added a solid 4-under 68 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 69 before closing with a 1-over 73.

   LSU earned a trip to the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing in fifth place as a two seed in the Columbus Regional. The Tigers finished just two shots out of a spot in the quarterfinals in a tie for 10^th place in qualifying for match play at La Costa.

   After a strong start, North Carolina, No. 14 in the Scoreboard rankings, struggled to a 9-over 297 in the final round to finish in fifth place, two shots behind LSU with a 12-under 852 total.

   The Tar Heels, with Southerland leading the way, opened with a sparkling 12-under 276 before adding a 279 in Sunday afternoon’s second round that left them just a shot behind Arkansas going into the final round.

   North Carolina failed to advance to the NCAA Championship at La Costa as a three seed in the Norman Regional last spring.

   Big 12 representative Kansas State, No. 26 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished five shots behind North Carolina in sixth place with a 7-under 857 total.

   With Chen leading the way, the Plains Wildcats recorded a pair of 4-under 284s in Sunday’s double round before closing with a 1-over 289.

   Kansas State earned its first trip to the NCAA Championship in program history last spring by finishing in a tie for second place in the Lexington Regional.

   In seventh place in the loaded 18-team field in Rio Grande were the Windy City Wildcats as reigning national champion Northwestern ended up two shots behind Kansas State with a 5-under 859 total.

   Northwestern, behind Lee, opened with a solid 7-under 281 and added a 4-under 284 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 6-over 294.

   Backing up Schutte and Zabilski for Arkansas was reigning NCAA individual champion Maria Jose Marin, a junior from Colombia and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, as she joined the group that included Tolentino in the tie for eighth place at 5-under.

   The always steady Jose Marin added a pair of 2-under 70s in the final two rounds to her opening-round 71.

   Marin added to her gaudy amateur record in November when she captured the title in the Women’s Amateur Latin America in a playoff at PGA Riviera Maya in Mexico.

   The Arkansas lineup got a little deeper when Sara Brentcheneff, a freshman from France and No. 27 in the Women’s WAGR, showed up in Fayetteville in time for the spring semester and she made an immediate impact, finishing in the  group tied for 29^th place with an even-par 216 total.

   Brentcheneff sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Rounding out the Arkansas lineup was Swetha Sathish, a freshman from Canada who finished among the group tied for 59^th place with a 5-over 221 total. Sathish also contributed a 3-under 69 for the Razorbacks in Sunday afternoon’s second round while tallying a pair of 4-over 76s in the first and final rounds.

   Natalie Blonien, a sophomore from Altus, Okla., competed as an individual for Arkansas and was solid, ending up in the group tied for 36^th place with a 1-over 217 total. Blonien sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Joining Tolentino and Marin in the quintet tied for eighth place at 5-under in the individual standings were Iowa’s Riley Lewis, a senior from Edwardsville, Ill., Minnesota’s Luismariana Mesones, a junior from Peru, and Furman’s Audrey Ryu, a junior from Dublin, Ohio.

   Lewis got off to a great start in Sunday’s double round, adding a 3-under 69 in the afternoon to her opening-round 68 before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Mesones matched par in the first and final rounds with 72s around a sparkling 5-under 67 in Sunday afternoon’s second round. Ryu sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Tolentino wasn’t the only Jersey girl with a solid showing at Grand Reserve. Northwestern sophomore Megan Meng, a scholastic standout at Hopewell Valley Central High in Pennington, N.J., finished in the group tied for 44^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Meng, winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls Championship in 2020 at Hershey Country Club, was not in the lineup during the Wildcats’ run to the national championship last spring, but I’m certain she was very much part of a team dynamic that resulted in the program’s first national title.

   Meng recorded a pair of 1-over 73s in Sunday’s double round before matching par in the final round with a 72.