Reigning Southeastern Conference champion Florida, coming
off a solid seventh-place finish in a loaded
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge field, fired a 5-under-par 283 to
grab a one-shot lead over Michigan State in the opening round of the Allstate
Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Sunday at the English Turn Golf & Country Club
in New Orleans.
The Gators, No. 14 in the latest Golfstat rankings, were one of the eight teams that reached match
play in the NCAA Championship last spring, but several players from that roster
are now playing professionally. But they also got a pretty nice addition when
Sierra Brooks, the runnerup in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur and a member of
the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team, joined the program and was cleared to play this
spring.
I gave Brooks, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., a shout-out
for her solid showing in the Northrop Grumman in my final post from that event
last week if you want to get a little more detail on her journey from Wake
Forest in the fall of 2016 to Florida in February of 2018, but suffice it to
say, the former junior standout did not forget how to play golf.
Brooks’ 3-under 69 over the 6,239-yard, par-72 was the low
round of the day for Florida and left her tied
for third in the individual standings.
Reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State, ranked 11th,
is a shot behind Florida at 4-under 284. The Spartans are coming off a solid
runnerup finish to South Carolina in the Florida State Match-Up.
Brynn Walker, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Radnor,
and North Carolina, somehow ranked 40th, are in third place at
4-over 292, eight shots behind Michigan State. No. 12 Southern California, one
of the three Pac-12 teams that reached the semifinals in last spring’s NCAA
Championship, is another shot behind the Tar Heels in fourth at 5-over 293.
No. 35 North Carolina State – a ranking that deservedly
moved higher after the Wolfpack’s fourth-place finish in last week’s Lady
Puerto Rico Classic – and No. 84 UCF are tied for fifth at 6-over 294. And No.
25 Miami is another shot back in seventh in the 17-team field at 7-over 295.
Backing up Brooks for Florida is Marta Perez, a sophomore
from Spain who was in the lineup for the Gators when they dusted the SEC
Championship field by 13 shots last spring. Perez is one of four players tied
for fifth in the individual standings at 2-under 70.
Florida veteran Taylor Tomlinson, a senior from Gainesville,
Fla., is tied for ninth, another shot behind Perez in a group tied for ninth at
1-under 71. Addie Baggarly, a freshman from Jonesborough, Tenn., was the final
counter for the Gators as her 1-over 73 left her in a group tied for 20th
at 1-over 73.
The Gators also brought along Elin Esborn, a redshirt freshman
from Sweden, to compete as an individual and all she did was shoot at 1-under
71 to join her teammate Tomlinson in the group tied for ninth.
The individual lead belongs to UCF’s Kaeli Jones, a senior
from Sumterville, Fla. who blitzed the English Turn layout to the tune of a
6-under 66. Jones finished tied for third on her home course in the UCF
Challenge earlier this month.
Michigan State’s Allyson Geer, a sophomore from Brighton,
Mich., is a shot back in second at 5-under 67.
Joining Florida’s Brooks in the tie for third at 3-under 69
is N.C. State’s Cecily Overbey, a senior from High Point, N.C.
Among the players joining Florida’s Perez in the group tied
for fifth at 2-under 70 is the other half of Michigan State’s powerful 1-2
punch at the top of its lineup along with Geer, Sarah Burnham, a senior from
Maple Grove, Minn.
Rounding out that foursome tied for fifth at 2-under 70 are
a pair of Southern California players, Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from
Honolulu, Hawaii, and Jennifer Chang, a freshman from Cary, N.C. The Trojans
lost their top player during the midseason break when Robynn Ree, a junior from
Redondo Beach, Calif. who finished tied for fifth in the final stage of
Qualifying School and is now a full-fledged member of the LPGA Tour. But with a
program like Southern Cal’s, that just means an opportunity for another strong
player to step in and prove herself.
North Carolina's Walker opened the spring portion of her sophomore season
with a solid even-par 72 that left her in a group tied for 16th. She
shared team medalist honors with Ava Bergner, a freshman from Germany
who was North Carolina’s best player during a solid first half of the season
last fall for the Tar Heels.
Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., is in the group
tied for 20th after a 1-over 73. Kelly Whaley, a junior from Farmington,
Conn., was the final counter for the North Carolina with a 3-over 75 that left
her in a group tied for 35th. Rounding out the North Carolina lineup
was Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla. who carded an 80 and
is tied for 77th.
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