Sierra Brooks made it quite clear that she’s back in a big
way by cruising to a four-shot victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Intercollegiate in New Orleans Tuesday and that means that Florida, despite the
loss of four players from last year’s Southeastern Conference championship
team, won’t skip a beat this season.
Brooks, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., added a 1-under-par
71 over the 6,239-yard, par-72 English Turn Golf & Country Club layout to the
pair of 69s to shot in the first two rounds for a 7-under 209 total. She led
the Gators, No. 14 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, to the best round of the day, a 1-over 289, as they eased to a
nine-shot victory over No. 12 Southern California.
Reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State, ranked 11th,
was another six shots behind Southern Cal in third at 24-over 888 after a final
round of 12-over 300. No. 35 North Carolina State carded a 301 to take fourth,
five shots behind Michigan State at 29-over 893. No. 59 Southern Methodist,
behind a solid 9-over 297 in the final round, grabbed fifth at 31-over 895, two
shots behind N.C. State.
It was a bit of a disappointing final round for No. 40 North
Carolina, which had its worst round of the tournament, an 18-over 306, to fall
into a tie for sixth with No. 66 LSU at 33-over 897. LSU had the second-best
round of the day, a 7-over 295.
No. 10 Oklahoma State finished alone in the eighth with a
solid 296 in the final round, giving it a 34-over 898 total. The Cowgirls lost
one of their top players during the midseason break when Maddie McCrary, a
senior from Wylie, Texas, turned pro.
Brooks was the runnerup in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur at
Portland Country Club and a prized recruit for Wake Forest last season. But an
injury kept her out of action last spring and, after briefly considering
turning pro, Brooks decided her game needed more seasoning and transferred
closer to home.
She had committed to the Gators at a very young age, like
eighth- or ninth-grade. Maybe it’s where she belonged all along.
Florida was one of the eight teams still standing when it
came time for match play in the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms last
spring. But four players who were in the lineup most of the time, Maria Torres,
Kelly Grassel, Karolina Vickova and Samantha Wagner, are either already on the
LPGA Tour, in the case of Torres, or working their way toward that goal.
Florida coach Emily Glaser entered Elin Esborn, a redshirt
freshman from Sweden, in the Allstate Sugar Bowl as an individual and Esborn
responded by finishing tied for fourth in the individual chase at 2-under 214.
Esborn sandwiched an even-par 72 in the middle round with a pair of 1-under
71s. But her scores didn’t even count toward the impressive team victory.
Marta Perez, a sophomore from Spain, bounced back from a 78
in the middle round with her second 2-under 70 of the tournament to finish tied
for sixth at 2-over 218. Taylor Tomlinson, a battle-tested senior from
Gainesville, Fla., finished tied for 11th at 6-over 222, even though
her final-round 75 wasn’t even a counter for the Gators.
That’s because Carlotta Ricolfi, a sophomore from Italy, and
Addie Baggarty, a freshman from Jonesborough, Tenn., each bounced back from
tough middle rounds to card a 2-over 74 Tuesday. That left both of them in the
group tied for 32nd at 11-over 227.
Southern Cal was led by one of the many talented freshmen populating
Division I women’s golf this season as Jennifer Chang of Cary, N.C. finished
tied for second at 3-under 213, four shots behind Brooks. Chang, who got into
contention with a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round, finished up with a
2-over 74.
She was joined at 3-under 213 by Michigan State’s Allyson
Geer, a sophomore from Brighton, Mich. who also carded a 2-over 74 in Tuesday’s
final round.
Chang’s teammate, Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu,
Hawaii, shared fourth place with Florida’s Esborn at 2-under 214. On a day in
which there wasn’t a single sub-70 round, Corpuz matched Florida’s Perez and
Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham for the low round of the day with a 2-under 70.
Joining Perez in the tie for sixth at 2-over 218 was yet
another Southern Cal youngster, Alyaa Abdulghany, a freshman from Newport
Beach, Calif. Abdulghany finished up with a solid 1-over 73.
Southern Cal also lost a key piece to the pro ranks since
November when Robynn Ree, a junior from Redondo Beach, Calif., finished tied for
fifth in the LPGA Qualifying School’s final stage. But with two freshmen and a
sophomore among the top six at English Turn, it appears the Trojans have turned
the page.
Michigan State’s Burnham, a senior from Maple Grove, Minn.,
bounced back from a tough 79 in the second round with that 2-under 70 to finish
in a tie for eighth at 3-over 219.
Burnham was joined at that figure by UCF’s Kaeli Jones, a
senior from Sumterville, Fla. who posted a 75 in the final round, and N.C.
State’s Cecily Overbey, a senior from High Point, N.C. who also finished up
with a 75.
In an otherwise tough day for North Carolina, a bright spot
was certainly the play of Kelly Whaley, a junior from Farmington, Conn. Whaley
matched par with a 72 and was the Tar Heels’ medalist for the week, finishing
tied for 11th at 6-over 222.
Sophomore Brynn Walker, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion
at Radnor, had a final-round 77, but snuck into the top 20, finishing tied for
20th at 224.
Ava Bergner, a freshman from Germany, struggled home with an
80, but still finished tied for 22nd, a shot behind Walker at 225.
Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., carded a 77 to finish tied for 28th
at 226. Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla., posted an 82 and
finished 79th at 241.
It was the opener for the Tar Heels while 1-2 finishers
Florida and Southern Cal, for instance, were coming off appearances in one of
the toughest fields of the season at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge,
in which the Gators finished seventh and the Trojans 10th. Michigan
State already had a runnerup finish against a tough field in the Florida State
Match Up under its belt.
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