It was billed as the biggest tournament in women’s college
golf and with 49 teams, they certainly might have something there.
You could quibble because tourney host the College of
Charleston fielded two teams, but make no mistake about it, there were a ton of
golfers gathered on Kiawah Island, S.C. for this week’s Kiawah Island Spring
Classic. It wasn’t exactly a summit meeting of the best teams in college golf,
but the quality of play, even in what might be considered the bottom half of
Division I, was evident.
Take, for instance, Delaware. The Blue Hens are No. 111 in
the latest Golfstat rankings, but
only 10 shots separated them from a berth in an NCAA Regional last spring.
Even with all those teams in the field, Delaware had a very
interested eye on the College of Charleston because that’s the team the Blue
Hens finished 10 shots behind in second place in the Colonial Athletic
Association Championship a year ago. Delaware was bidding for a third straight
CAA title, but was denied by the College of Charleston, which at No. 55 was the
highest-ranked team in the field at Kiawah Island.
And it turned out be a pretty good week for Delaware. The
Blue Hens posted a team-record 10-over 874 total for a 54-hole event and
finished alone in fourth place, nine shots behind co-champions Coastal
Carolina, ranked 73rd, and No. 63 North Florida.
And, probably more importantly to the Blue Hens, they
finished three shots ahead of the College of Charleston, which ended up alone
in sixth at 13-over 877.
Of course, it took more than one golf course to play this
event. Most of the top teams opened play Sunday at the 5,954-yard, par-72
Osprey Point Golf Club layout and then played their second round at the
5,941-yard, par-72 Oak Point Golf Club. The top 24 teams after two rounds
played Osprey Point in the final round.
That’s how it shook out for co-champions Coastal Carolina
and North Florida, as well as for Delaware.
Coastal Carolina opened up with a 2-under 286 at Osprey
Point, added an 8-over 296 at Oak Point and finished up with a 4-under 284 at
Osprey Point for a 1-over 865 total. After opening with a 5-over 293 at Osprey
Point, North Florida had one of, if not the, best round, a 4-under 284 at Oak
Point before finishing up with an even-par 288 at Osprey Point to join Coastal
Carolina at 1-over 865 and get a share of the team title.
North Florida was led by individual champion Sydney Shrader,
a junior from Naples, Fla. who opened with an even-par 72 at Osprey Point and
then ripped off a 4-under 68 at Oak Point before finishing up with a sparkling
5-under 67 at Osprey Point for a 9-under 207 total that was one shot better
than South Florida’s Ramya Meenakshisundaram, a freshman from Jacksonville,
Fla.
Much like their male counterparts, the North Florida and
South Florida programs, while not the biggest Division I programs when it comes
to other sports, have a ton of good players from which to choose when it comes to golf.
No. 77 Tulsa finished up strong with a 5-under 283 to end up
alone in third at 8-over 872. Delaware was two shots behind the Golden Hurricane
in fourth as the Blue Hens opened up with a 1-over 289 at Osprey Point, added
an 8-over 296 at Oak Point and finished up with another 1-over 289 at Osprey
Point to account for their 10-over 874 total.
No. 81 South Florida was a shot behind the Blue Hens in
fifth at 11-over 875 after closing with a 4-under 284. The College of
Charleston matched Tulsa for the low round of the day in Tuesday’s final round
with a 5-under 283 to finish two shots behind South Florida in sixth at 13-over
877. The Cougars struggled a little in the first two rounds, opening with an
8-over 296 before adding a 10-over 298 in the second round.
No. 125 Youngstown State matched par in the final round with
a 288 that landed the Penguins in seventh place at 14-over 878.
Backing up Shrader for North Florida was Liss Davalos, a
freshman from Mexico who was among five players tied for fifth at 2-under 214.
Davalos contributed to North Florida’s strong showing at Oak Point in the
second round with a 3-under 69 before finishing up with a 1-over 73 at Osprey
Point.
The rest of the North Florida lineup all landed among the
group tied for 45th at 223, including Mindy Herrick, a sophomore
from Gainesville, Fla., Daniela Gonzalez, a freshman from Colombia and Teresa
Conway, a junior from Tallahassee, Fla.
Herrick and Conroy each finished up with a 2-over 74 while
Gonzalez, who opened with a 2-over 74 at both Osprey Point in the first round
and Oak Point in the second round, closed with a 3-over 75 at Osprey Point.
Coastal Carolina was led by Jenjira Jinangkul, a freshman
from Thailand who carded a 2-under 70 in the final round to join the group tied
for 10th at 1-under 215.
Three of Jinangkul’s teammates were not far behind.
Frantiska Lunackova, a sophomore from the Czech Republic was just a shot behind
Jinangkul in the group tied for 13th at even-par 216 after closing with a solid
1-under 71.
Frantiska’s big sister, Marie Lunackova, a senior, and
Tiffany Arafi, a freshman from Switzerland, were another shot behind Frantiska
Lunackova in the group tied for 17th at 1-over 217. Marie Lunackova
matched par in the final round with a 72 and Arafi finished up with a 1-under
71.
Rounding out the Coastal Carolina lineup was Stephanie
Henning, a junior from Sweden who finished among a group tied for 55th
at 224. Henning matched par in the final round with a 72, giving Coastal
Carolina five rounds at par or better on the final day.
South Florida’s Meenaskhisundaram capped a really strong
showing with a 3-under 69 in the final round at Osprey Point to finish a shot
behind Shrader in the individual chase at 8-under 208. She was five shots
better than the rest of the field.
Youngstown State’s Kaitlyn Shutt, a junior from Dover, Ohio,
and Western Carolina’s Amy Wooten, a freshman from Clinton, N.C., shared third
place, each finishing at 3-under 213. Shutt matched Shrader’s sparkling final
round of 5-under 67 to get her share of third. Wooten had shared the lead with
South Florida’s Meenakshisundaram going into the final round after opening with
a 3-under 69 and adding a 2-under 70 before closing with a 2-over 74.
Leading the way for the College of Charleston was
Anna-Theresa Rottluff, a junior from Germany who was among the group along with
North Florida’s Davalos tied for fifth at 2-under 214. After opening with a 1-over
73, Rottluff bettered par with a 2-under 70 in the second round and a 1-under
71 in the final round.
Rounding out the quintet tied for fifth at 2-under 214 were
IUPUI’s Marion Debove, a junior from France, High Point’s Sarah Kuhn, a
freshman from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Jacksonville’s Hannah Berman, a
junior from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Debove zoomed up the leaderboard with a school-record
6-under 66 in the final round at Osprey Point -- from what I can see it was the
low round for either course for the tournament -- that featured eight birdies
and two bogeys. Kuhn matched par in the final round with a 72 and Berman
finished up with a 1-under 71.
Delaware was led by its best player, Ariane Klotz, a junior
from New Caledonia who fired a final round of 3-under 69 to land among the
group tied for 13th at even-par 216. Klotz finished in a tie for
second in last spring’s CAA Championship.
Thitaree Sakulbunpanich, a sophomore from Thailand, backed
up Klotz as she finished among the group tied for 21st at 2-over
218. Sakulbunpanich matched par in the opening round with a 72 at Osprey Point,
added a 1-over 73 at Oak Point and finished up with another 1-over 73 back at
Osprey Point.
Ashley Dingman, a senior from Fairfield, Calif., finished
among the group tied for 31st at 4-over 220 after a final round of
1-over 73 and Valentina Mueller, a senior from Switzerland, finished among the
group tied for 38th at 6-over 222 after closing with a 76.
Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Sophia Dieter, a
freshman from Jupiter, Fla. who closed with a solid 2-over 74 that was a
counter for the Blue Hens to land among the group tied for 76th at
10-over 226. Kyle Greulich, a junior from Huron, Ohio, competed as an
individual at Kiawah Island, closing with an 83 to finish among the group tied
for 199th at 244.
Klotz, Sakulbunpanich, Dingman and Mueller were all in the
lineup when Delaware finished second to the College of Charleston in the CAA
Championship last spring. I’m sure they’d like nothing more than to turn the
tables this spring.
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