Brigham Young proved to be a host that didn’t want any of
its visitors to leave with the trophy as the Cougars came on strong to claim
the team title at their Entrada Classic, which wrapped up Tuesday at Entrada at
Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah.
BYU began the week at No. 48 in the Golfstat rankings and moved up to No. 44 after the victory, carded
a final round of 2-under 286 to finish at even-par 864 and edge the
highest-ranked team in the field, No. 17 Kent State, by two shots.
The Cougars opened with rounds of 2-over 290 and even-par
288 in Monday’s double-round and trailed Kent State, which opened with a
3-under 285 and added a 3-over 291, by two shots heading into the final round.
Kent State finished up with a 2-over 290 for a 2-over 866 total that left it
two shots behind BYU.
It was a two-team race the whole way with No. 52 Texas Tech
another 12 shots behind Kent State in third at 14-over 878 after a final round
of 3-over 291. No. 54 Oregon State was another three shots behind Texas Tech in
fourth at 17-over 881 after also posting a 3-over 291 in the final round.
Brynn Walker, the two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at
Radnor, and North Carolina had moved up to No. 26 in the Golfstat rankings with a solid tie for seventh against an elite
field at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. But the Tar Heels struggled to a
301 in the final round in the Entrada Classic for a 22-over 886 that left them
in fifth place. They fell back to No. 29 when the latest Golfstat rankings came out.
North Carolina opened with rounds of 4-over 292 and 5-over
293 in Monday’s double-round.
No. 55 Southern Methodist finished sixth in the 14-team
field, four shots behind North Carolina at 26-over 890 after a final round of
6-over 294.
BYU was led by Kendra Dalton, a senior from Wake Forest,
N.C. who carded a 1-under-par 71 over
the 6,098-yard, par-72 Johnny Miller design at Entrada at Snow Canyon in the
final round to finish second in the individual chase, two shots behind Kent
State’s Pimnipa Panthong, a sophomore from Thailand.
Dalton opened with a 71 and added a 4-under 68 in Monday
afternoon’s second round and the final-round 71 left her at 6-under 210.
But Dalton was hardly alone and it took three other solid
rounds by her teammates to bring home the team title.
Naomi Soifua, a freshman from Provo, Utah and Rose Huang, a
junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, were two of the seven players who finished tied
for fifth at even-par 216. Soifua had the best round of the day for the Cougars
in the final round, finishing up with a clutch 2-under 70 and Huang matched par
with a 72 to also finish at 216.
Anna Kennedy, a sophomore from Parker, Colo., posted a solid
1-over 73 for BYU’s final counter, enabling her to finish in the group tied for
18th at 6-over 222. Rounding out the BYU lineup was Annie Yang, a
senior from Canada who carded a final-round 75 to finish tied for 29th
at 10-over 226.
Panthong opened with a dazzling 5-under 67 Monday morning,
added a 1-under 71 in the afternoon and finished up with a 2-under 70 Tuesday
for an 8-under 208 total that gave her a two-shot edge on BYU’s Dalton.
Oregon State’s Nicole Schroeder, a sophomore from Rocklin, Calif.,
was the model of consistency with three straight 1-under 71s to finish third,
three shots behind Dalton at 3-under 213. Wyoming’s Erin Sargent, a sophomore
from Longmont, Colo., matched par in the final round with a 72 and was the only
other player in the field who finished under par as she placed fourth at
1-under 215.
Panthong’s Kent State teammate, Karoline Stormo, a sophomore
from Norway, was part of the seven-way tie at even-par 216 after matching par
in the final round with a 72. Schroeder’s Oregon State teammate, Ellie Slama, a
freshman from Salem, Ore., was also part of that group as she opened with a
3-under 69, struggled to a 76 in the second round and finished up with a
1-under 71.
SMU’s Lauren Chappell, a freshman from Charleston, Ill. who
was competing as an individual, matched Panthong’s sparkling 5-under 67 in the
opening round before falling back with rounds of 75 and 74 to also join the
group tied for fifth.
Rounding out the group at even-par were Utah Valley’s Ana
Raga, a junior from Venezuela, and Texas-San Antonio’s Julie Houston, a junior
from Allen, Texas. Raga finished up with her second consecutive 1-under 71
while Houston had a pair of 71s in Monday’s double-round and finished up with a
2-over 74.
North Carolina was led by Kelly Whaley, a junior from
Farmington, Conn. who had finished up with a 1-under 71 in Monday afternoon’s
second round and posted an even-par 72 in the final round to end up alone in 14th
place at 2-over 218. Ava Bergner, the Tar Heels’ standout freshman from
Germany, had a final-round 76 to finish among the group tied for 20th
at 223.
Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla.,
continued a strong stretch of play that started at the Darius Rucker
Intercollegiate as she finished tied for 23rd at 224, including an
even-par 72 in the opening round.
Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., finished alone
in 30th place at 227, although she struggled home in the final round
with an 80.
It was a bit of a disappointing outing for Walker, the
sophomore out of St. Davids who finished tied for 34th at 228,
although her opening-round 73 and final-round 76 were both counters for the Tar
Heels. The 79 in the middle round is one she’d like to have back.
North Carolina coach Jan Mann took her team to a different
place for its spring-break road trip this season, forcing her Tar Heels to
adjust to a new golf course in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s something North
Carolina will likely experience should it earn an NCAA Regional berth.
No comments:
Post a Comment