Got some catching up
to do after a couple of days of focusing in on the District One Championship at
Turtle Creek Golf Club, but I had every intention of getting back to this …
Penn State, behind another strong showing by senior Cara
Basso, the former Villa Maria Academy standout and reigning two-time winner of
the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match-Play Championship, delivered
a bust-out performance in a runnerup finish to host Kentucky in the Bettie Lou
Evers Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday at the University Club of
Kentucky’s Big Blue Course in Lexington, Ky.
Penn State trailed the Wildcats by 16 shots heading into
Sunday’s final round and very nearly made it all up with a program-record
10-under-par 278 over the 5,947-yard, par-72 Big Blue layout that gave the
Nittany Lions a 4-under 860 total, also a program record.
Kentucky carded a final round of 4-over 292 and held on for
the tournament team title with a 6-under 858 total.
The Wildcats had opened with a solid 8-under 280 in Friday’s
opening round and added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round. Penn State
came out of the gate slowly with an 8-over 296 before matching Kentucky’s
second-round 286.
Middle Tennessee carded a final round of 2-under 286 to take
third at 5-over 869, nine shots behind the Nittany Lions. Memphis matched Penn
State’s scorching 10-under 278 in the final round to surge up the leaderboard
and finish fourth at 10-over 874.
Notre Dame posted a final round of 9-over 297 and finished
alone in fifth in the 12-team field with a 17-over 881 total, seven shots
behind Memphis.
Kentucky was led by individual champion Leonie Bettel, a
senior from Austria who finished with an 11-under 205 total. Bettel opened with
a 1-under 71 before going off in the final two rounds. She fired a sizzling
6-under 66 in the second round before finishing up with a 4-under 68.
Backing up Bettel for the Wildcats were Rikke Svejgaard
Nielsen, a sophomore from Denmark, and Sarah Shipley, a junior from Hastings,
Mich., both of whom ended up in the group tied for 14th at 2-over
218.
Svejgaard Nielson sparked the fast start for Kenutcky with
an opening round of 4-under 68 before cooling off with rounds of 76 and a 74.
Shipley also bettered par in the opening round with a 3-under 69 before falling
back with rounds of 74 and 75.
Casey Ott, a freshman from Conway, Ark., finished among the
group tied for 24th at 222 after finishing up with a 3-over 75.
Rounding out the starting lineup for Kentucky was Josephine Chang, a junior
from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. who finished among the group tied for 32nd
at 224. Chang’s even-par 72 in the second round turned out to be a crucial
counter for the Wildcats.
After opening with an even-par 72, Basso ripped off a
4-under 68 and finished up with a 5-under 67 to end up two shots behind Bettel
in second at 9-under 207, a program record. The final-round 67 was a personal
Penn State best for Basso.
Fellow senior Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time District One
champion at Pennsbury, backed up Basso for Penn State as she fired a 3-under 69
in Saturday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70 to finish in a tie for
seventh at 2-under 214.
Sarah Willis, a freshman from Eaton, Ohio, has been a
revelation for Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre. Willis played a big
role in Sunday’s final-round surge with a 3-under 69 that enabled her to finish
among the group tied for 11th at 1-over 217.
Senior Lauren Waller, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a
senior at Canon-McMillan, finished among the group tied for 30th at
223 after matching par with a 72.
Junior Megan McLean, a product of Voorhees High, matched
Waller’s even-par 72 in the final round and finished among the group tied for
39th at 226.
Junior Madelein Herr, a former Council Rock North standout,
competed as an individual for Penn State and finished among the group tied for
53rd at 231 after a final round of 4-over 76.
Toledo’s Pimchanok Kawil, a senior from Thailand, finished
alone in third place in the individual chase, just a shot behind Baso at
8-under 208. Kawil had the best individual round of the tournament, a sizzling
7-under 65 in Saturday’s second round, before finishing up with a 2-under 70.
Notre Dame’s best player, Emma Albrecht, a senior from
Ormond Beach, Fla., shared fourth place with the University of Indianapolis’
Pilar Echeverria, a junior from Guatemala, each landing on 3-under 213.
Albrecht was typically steady, opening with a 2-under 70 and
adding a 1-under 71 in the second round before matching par in the final round
with a 72. Echeverria matched par in the opening round with a 72 and then
improved by a shot the following two days, posting a 1-under 71 before
finishing up with a 2-under 70.
Joining Penn State’s Rogowicz in the tie for seventh at
2-under 214 were Middle Tennessee’s Hanley Long, a senior from Clarksville,
Tenn., and Memphis’ Michaela Fletcher, a redshirt senior from South Africa.
After a pair of 2-under 70s, Long finished up with a 1-over
73 while Fletcher finished strong, moving up the leaderboard with a 5-under 67
in the final round.
Backing up Emma Albrecht for the Fighting Irish was Maddie
Rose Hamilton, a senior from Louisville, Ky. who ended up among the group tied
for 28th at 222 after finishing with a 2-over 74. Abby Heck, a sophomore
from Memphis, Tenn., finished among the group tied for 32nd at 224. Heck
opened up by matching par with a 72 before backing off with rounds of 75 and
77.
Emma Albrecht’s sister Claire Albrecht, a freshman from
Ormond Beach, Fla., finished among the group tied for 44th as she
sandwiched a 2-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 77s.
Rounding out the Notre Dame lineup was senior Isabella
DiLisio, who captured the 2013 PIAA Class AAA crown as a junior at Mount St.
Joseph. DiLisio finished among the group tied for 47th at 229,
although after an opening-round 82, she contributed counting rounds of 73 and
74.
Mia Ayer, a junior from Waco, Texas, competed as an
individual for the Fighting Irish and landed in the group tied for 53rd
at 231 after finishing up with a 77.
No comments:
Post a Comment