It was Alabama’s turn this week to state the case that the
Crimson Tide, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, will be the team to beat when an NCAA championship is on the line
at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. In May.
Alabama made it look easy this weekend on its way to an
eight-shot victory over a supremely talented 18-team field, capturing the
Darius Rucker Intercollegiate over the Long Cove Club’s Pete Dye Course in
Hilton Head Island, S.C. for the third straight year.
You could dredge up the horses-for-courses argument, but the
Crimson Tide led this one from start to finish. Conditions deteriorated as the
weekend went on as the storm that devastated the Philadelphia area, among many
others along the East Coast, started throwing some wind and chilly temperatures
from its offshore perch toward Hilton Head.
Alabama’s veterans just shrugged and kept playing. Led by
Lauren Stephenson, a junior from Lexington, S.C. who was the runnerup to
individual champion Maria Fassi, Arkansas’ star junior from Mexico, the Crimson
Tide carded a solid 5-over-par 289 over the 6,220-yard, par-71 Pete Dye Course
layout in Sunday’s final round that gave them a 14-over 866 total.
The next three finishers, Fassi and the Razorbacks, and ACC
powers Wake Forest and Duke, were all a shot better than Alabama Sunday as they
shared honors for the best round of the day at 4-over 288.
That earned No. 3 Arkansas runnerup honors at 22-over 874.
It capped off a nice week for No. 28 Wake Forest, which finished third at 26-over
878, four shots behind Arkansas. And reigning ACC champion Duke, ranked fifth,
ended up fourth, another shot behind Wake at 879.
No. 13 Northwestern, which fell in the NCAA Championship’s
Final Match at Rich Harvest Farms last spring, struggled a little Sunday with a
303 to fall back to fifth at 34-over 886. The Wildcats had entered the final
round trailing Alabama by just six shots in second place. No. 9 Furman had a
302 in the final round to take sixth at 891, five shots behind Furman.
Brynn Walker, the North Carolina sophomore who captured PIAA
Class AAA titles in 2014 and 2015 at Radnor High, and the No. 33 Tar Heels
bounced back from a rough second round to end up tied for seventh with No. 34
Auburn at 898, seven shots behind Furman.
North Carolina, which had struggled to a 308 in Saturday’s
middle round, improved 11 shots with a final-round 297. Auburn came on strong
with a final round of 7-over 291.
Stephenson, No. 6 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR), capped a solid weekend with a 1-over 72 that left her alone in second
place at 1-under 212.
The only other player to finish under par was Fassi, No. 24
in the Women’s WAGR and who is having a wonderful season. Fassi’s final round
of 2-under 69 gave her a 3-under 210 total and her fourth victory of the
season. She is in Stacy Lewis territory now and that is the best company you
can keep in the Razorback record book.
Two of Stephenson’s teammates, Lakareber Abe, a senior from
Angleton, Texas, and Cheyenne Knight, a junior from Aledo, Texas, were among a
group of four players tied for sixth at 4-over 217. Abe fired a 1-over 72 to
join that group.
Knight, No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, had won the individual
title at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate the last two years. She matched par
on the Pete Dye Course with a 71. Knight’s going to have pretty fond memories
of this track, having now won three team titles and two individual crowns to go
with this weekend’s tie for sixth.
Kristen Gillman, a sophomore from Austin, Texas, was the
Crimson Tide’s final counter Sunday with a 3-over 74. That gave Gillman, the
2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion who is No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, a 7-over
220 total that left her tied for 15th.
Angelica Moresco, a freshman from Italy, rounded out the
Alabama lineup as she posted her best round of the tournament, a 4-over 75, to
finish tied for 56th at 229.
Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio, who captured the title in
the venerable SALLY in Ormond Beach, Fla. over the midseason break, capped a
wonderful event with a 1-over 72 that left the precocious freshman from Cary,
N.C. alone in third place at even-par 213.
LSU’s Claudia De Antonio, a senior from Venezuela, posted a
4-over 75 in the final round to finish fourth at 1-over 214 and Georgia’s
Jillian Hollis, a junior from Rocky River, Ohio, was another shot back in fifth
at 2-over 215 after a final round of 3-over 74.
Duke’s Jaravee Boonchant, a freshman – have I mentioned how
many good freshmen there are all around the country this year? Yeah, I thought
I had – from Thailand matched par in the final round to join Alabama’s Abe and
Knight and Northwestern’s Brooke Riley, a sophomore from Manteca, Calif., in
the group tied for sixth at 4-over 217. Riley carded a 5-over 76 in the final
round.
Rounding out the top 10 was the No. 1 player in the Women’s
WAGR, Duke’s Leona Maguire, a senior from Ireland. The worse the conditions,
the better it is for Maguire, who finished up with a 1-over 72 to end up at
5-over 218.
Are the Dookies dangerous? Maguire could be playing
professional golf right now. But she wanted to finish her senior year because
she wanted to bring a national championship to Durham. You bet they’re
dangerous.
As for that North Carolina team from Chapel Hill, the
highlight of the weekend was the play of Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St.
Petersburg, Fla. who finished up really strong with a 1-under 70 Sunday to end up tied for 11th at 6-over 219. If Ocano came to Hilton Head
with a tenuous hold on her spot in the lineup, she certainly made a case that
she belongs among that starting five for a while.
After a pair of 75s in the first two rounds, Walker shaved a
shot off those two totals with a 3-over 74 in the final round to end up in a
tie for 28th at 224. Not bad, but knowing Walker, she’s nowhere near
satisfied.
Ava Bergner, a freshman from Germany, struggled to a 78 to
finish tied for 65th at 231 and Kelly Whaley, a junior from
Farmington, Conn., was another shot back in a group tied for 69th at
232 after struggling home with an 81.
Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., was a counter in
the final round with a solid 4-over 75, although struggles in the first two
rounds left her tied for 87th at 236. Clementia Rodriguez, a junior
from Venezuela, completed in the Darius Rucker as an individual, and joined
Nguyen in the group tied for 87th at 236 after a final-round 77.
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