Herr has breakout round in talented Rucker field

   Wake Forest sophomore Erica Herr, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Council Rock North, went along to this weekend’s Darius Rucker Intercollegiate to compete as an individual.

   And in the middle of the stellar 17-team field that included five top-10 teams, Herr flashed the kind of talent that made her arguably the greatest scholastic player in Pennsylvania history.

   After opening with a 78 over the 6,243-yard, par-71 Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C., Herr fired a sparkling 2-under 69 in the second round, matching the best score of the middle round. Herr fell back with another 78 in Sunday’s final round to finish in a group tied for 39^th at 12-over 225 that included her teammate, Jennifer Kupcho, a freshman from Littleton, Colo.

   The Demon Deacons finished 14^th in the team race with rounds of 300, 300 and 307 for a 903 total.

   Wake Forest’s fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams certainly represented at Hilton Head with Virginia, ranked 29^th by Golfweek, No. 2 Duke and No. 45 North Carolina finishing second, third and fifth, respectively in the team standings.

   But the Cavaliers couldn’t quite catch Southeast Conference powerhouse Alabama, which came into the Rucker ranked seventh by Golfweek, but might be moving up after its seven-shot victory over this field. The Crimson Tide started off fast with a blistering 6-under 278. They backed off with rounds of 298 and 292, but their 16-over 868 total easily bested runnerup Virginia (281-298-296—875).

   Alabama was boosted by individual champion Cheyenne Knight, a freshman from Aledo, Texas who rode an opening-round 67 to a one-shot victory over a quartet of challengers. Knight added rounds of 74 and 72 for an even-par 213 total.

   Backing up Knight was Emma Talley, a senior from Princeton, Ky. who finished in a tie for 13^th at 6-over 219. Talley is the 2013 U.S. Amateur champion and the reigning NCAA individual champion. Not a whole lot of college teams can trot out a player with that kind of resume. Nicole Morales, a sophomore from Salem, N.Y., finished in a tie for 17^th, a shot back of Talley at 220, and Janie Jackson, a senior from Huntsville, Ala., and Lakareber Abe, a sophomore from Angleton, Texas, both landed in group that tied for 23^rd at 8-over 221.

   Virginia, which stalked Alabama throughout the weekend, was led by Lauren Coughlin, a senior from Chesapeake, Va. who was among the four players tied for second a shot back of Knight at 1-over 214. Coughlin had rounds of 67, 72 and 75.

   Duke shot up the leaderboard with a final-round 290 that landed the Blue Devils in third at 878, three shots back of Virginia. The Blue Devils were led by Sandy Choi, a junior from South Korea who was also in the foursome tied for second after rounds of 71, 70 and 73.

   A measure of the quality of the field in Hilton Head is the fact the world’s top-ranked amateur, Duke’s Leona Maguire, a sophomore from Ireland, could do no better than a tie for 17^th at 7-over 220 after rounds of 75, 72 and 73.

   Oklahoma St., ranked 11^th by Golfweek, finished fourth, a shot back of Duke at 879. The Cowgirls were led by Maddy McCreary, a sophomore from Wylie, Texas, another member of the quartet tied for second at 214. McCreary had rounds of 71, 70 and 73.

   North Carolina rounded out the top five in the team standings at 881, two shots back of Oklahoma St. The Tar Heels were led by Leslie Cloots, a junior from Belgium who had fired a 4-under 67, easily the best of the final round, to finish tied for ninth at 5-over 218.

   North Carolina, obviously a pretty solid team, awaits the arrival on campus next fall of Brynn Walker, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion from Radnor.

   Vanderbilt’s Alexandra Farnsworth, a sophomore from Nashville, Tenn., was the fourth member of the group tied for second at 214. Farnsworth had rounds of 67, 72 and 75.

   Three of the top six teams in the country followed North Carolina in the team standings. No. 6 Arkansas was sixth at 882, No. 3 Georgia finished seventh at 883 and No. 1 Southern California and No. 30 South Carolina finished tied for eighth at 887.

   Arkansas was led by Maria Fassi, a freshman  from Mexico who struggled to a final-round 77 to join the group with Cloots at 5-over 218. Fassi already owns an individual title at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic this spring. Georgia was led by Harang Lee, a junior from Spain who rode a second-round 69 to finish alone in sixth at 3-over 216.

   The top-ranked Trojans were led by Robynn Ree, the talented freshman from Redondo Beach, Calif., who also landed in that group at 5-over 218 after a final-round 73. Ree won an individual title at the Gold Rush earlier this spring.

   Give Southern Cal some credit, though. The Trojans came across the country to take on an elite field. They’ll be a better team for it in the long run.