Illinois, No. 29 in the latest Golfstat rankings, won its second straight tournament title and
third of the season when Sunday’s final round of the Lady Buckeye Invitational
was wiped out by the massive storm that brought winter back to the northern
tier.
But everybody who teed it up at the Ohio State Golf Club’s Scarlet
Course in Columbus, Ohio for 36 holes in summerlike conditions Saturday
benefited from having their games challenged by one of the great campus golf
courses in the country, a course good enough to stage a Web.com Tour event.
For many teams in the field it was the final dress rehearsal
before they head for conference championships. It was something of a Big Ten
Championship preview without two of the conference’s perennial powers,
Northwestern and Purdue. And again, there could be no better preparation for
college golf’s postseason than the Scarlet Course.
The Fighting Illini will take a lot of momentum to TPC
River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio when the Big Ten Championship tees off Friday.
Behind individual co-champion Grace Park, a senior from San
Jose, Calif., Illinois opened with a 1-under 287 over the 6,319-yard, par-72
Scarlet Course layout Saturday morning and added a 4-over 292 in the afternoon
for a 3-over 579 total.
No 16 Kent State, which qualified for match play in the NCAA
Championship at Rich Harvest Farms last spring, matched Illinois’ opening-round
287 before adding a 10-over 298 that left the Golden Flashes six shots behind
the Illini in second at 9-over 585.
No. 12 Michigan State will head to TPC River’s Bend as the
defending Big Ten champion Friday, not last year’s national runnerup
Northwestern, not Purdue, not Ohio State nor Illinois. The Spartans tuned up
for their title defense by finishing third at 16-over 592. They were right in
the hunt after opening with a 3-over 291, but struggled to an afternoon 301.
A couple of Pac-12 invaders, No. 15 Washington and No. 57
Oregon State, accounted for the next two spots as the Huskies took fourth at
17-over 593 and the Beavers were three more shots back in fifth at 20-over 596.
Washington had solid rounds of 295 and 298 while Oregon State bounced back from
an opening-round 301 with a 7-over 295.
No. 63 Indiana posted a 5-over 293 in the afternoon Saturday
to move into sixth place at 21-over 597 and host Ohio State, ranked 39th,
was another shot behind the Hoosiers in seventh at 598. The Buckeyes put
together rounds of 300 and 298 on their home course.
No. 66 Penn State posted rounds of 306 and 300 to finish
ninth at 30-over 606. The Nittany Lions finished behind four Big Ten teams, but
ahead of three others.
Seton Hall, ranked 119th, but probably deserving
to be in the top 100, was last in the 14-team field at 623 after rounds of 309
and 314. But the Pirates will benefit greatly from their trip to Columbus as
they head for the Big East Championship, which tees off Friday at the Callawassie
Island Golf Club in Okatie, S.C.
The Lady Buckeye also afforded teams to go with a six-player
lineup, one more than the customary five, although the top four scores counted,
as usual. It was one last chance for coaches to resolve any battles for that
starting five they will take to the conference championships. It has to be one
of the toughest calls a coach has to make
and often these battles have been going on since Day One last August.
Park led the way for the Fighting Illini, opening with a
3-under 69 and adding an even-par 72 for a 3-under 141 total. Kent State’s
Pimnipa Panthong, a talented sophomore from Thailand, opened with a 4-under 68
before posting a 1-over 73 in the afternoon to get a share of medalist honors
with Park.
Illinois also got a strong showing from Tristyn Nowlin, a
sophomore from Richmond, Ky. who finished tied for fourth at even-par 144 after
a pair of solid even-par 72s.
Dana Gattone, a senior from Addison, Ill., gave the Fighting
Illini a third top-10 finisher as she added an even-par 72 in the afternoon to
her opening-round 75 to finish tied for 10th at 3-over 147.
Bing Singhaumalee, a junior from Naperville, Ill., finished
tied for 25th at 150 after adding a 78 to a solid opening-round 72.
Charyanid Prapassarangkul, a senior from Thailand, finished tied for 27th
at 151 with a 2-over 74 in the morning that was Illinois’ final counter in the
opening round, and a 77 in the afternoon.
Rounding out the Illinois contingent was Ali Moralios, a
freshman from Long Beach, Calif. who finished tied for 36th at 152
with a pair of 76s.
Toledo’s Pinyada Kuvanun, a junior from Thailand, finished
alone in third place in the individual chase. Kuvanun added a 2-under 70 to her
opening-round 73 and was the only other player beside the top two to finish
under par on the tough Scarlet Course at 1-under 143.
Sharing fourth place with Illinois’ Nowlin at even-par 144
was Washington’s Wenyung Keh, a junior from New Zealand who added a 2-over 74 to
her opening-round 70. As a freshman two springs ago, Keh went 3-0 in match play
at Eugene Country Club to play a huge role in the Huskies’ unlikely march to
the NCAA championship.
Kent State’s Karoline Stormo, a sophomore from Norway, and
Pilar Echeverria, a sophomore from Guatemala at the Division II University of
Indianapolis (UIndy for short), finished tied for sixth at 1-over 145. Stormo
opened with a 1-under 71 before carding a 2-over 74 in the afternoon. Echeverria
fired a 2-under 70 in the second round after opening up with a 75.
I’m not sure Denise St. Pierre’s Penn State team can do
enough to earn a berth in an NCAA regional. But it has been a solid season for
the Nittany Lions as they head for TPC River’s Bend.
It was a season that began with a weeklong trip to Ireland
for some team bonding in August as the Nittany Lions got to experience golf in
the home of teammate Ariana Coyle Diez, a senior from Dublin. I’m certain there
will be lifelong memories from that week because nobody does a road trip like a
group of Nittany Lions.
They were led by junior Cara Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA
champion as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy. Basso, winner of the Women’s
Golf Association of Philadelphia Match-Play Championship last summer, has
emerged as Penn State’s top player and she finished tied for 13th at
4-over 148 with rounds of 76 and 72.
Junior Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA runnerup at
Pennsbury, finished tied for 27th at 151 after finishing strong with
a 2-over 74.
Three Nittany Lions – junior Lauren Waller, the 2014 PIAA
Class AAA runnerup as a senior Canon-McMillan, sophomore Megan McLean, a
Voorhees High product, and Kamerine Taylor, a junior from Dublin, Ohio – ended
up in the group tied for 46th at 155. Weller and McLean both went
78-77 while Taylor opened with a 75 before adding an 80 in the afternoon.
Sophomore Madelein Herr, the 2015 District One Class AAA
champion as a senior at Council Rock North, struggled at the Scarlet Course,
carding an opening-round 78 before finishing up with an 85.
Seton Hall will head for Callawassie Island thinking it has
a shot to win a Big East Championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA
regionals.
The Pirates were led by sophomore Maddie Sager, the 2015
PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Owen J. Roberts. Sager opened with a 75
before adding a 78 to finish in the group tied for 43rd at 153.
Freshman Mia Kness, the 2016 PIAA Class AAA champion as a
senior at Peters Township, finished tied for 46th at 155. Kness
opened up with a solid 2-over 74 before struggling to an 81 in the afternoon.
Sophomore Sammie Staudt, a former Coatesville standout, had
rounds of 80 and 78 to finish tied for 61st at 158. Cassie Pantelas,
a senior from Canton, Ohio, and Lizzie Win, a sophomore from Sylvania, Ohio,
both landed with the group tied for 65th at 159. Both went 80-79 for
the day.
Rounding out the Seton Hall contingent was senior Macky
Fouse, the 2013 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at Central Valley. Fouse struggled
at the Scarlet Course with rounds of 83 and 85 to finish 82nd at
168.
No comments:
Post a Comment