Kent State, No. 11 in the latest Golfstat rankings, emerged from a two-day tug-of-war with two-time
reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State with a one-shot victory in the Lady
Buckeye Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday on The Ohio State University’s
Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio.
The 12-team field was dodging stormy weather throughout a
36-hole double-round Saturday and the 18-hole windup Sunday. And the Scarlet
Course, the work of two of the most celebrated golf course architects ever,
Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell, provided another stiff challenge for 12
teams gearing up for looming conference championships.
Kent State will likely rule the Mid-American Conference for
the 21st straight spring. It is one of the premier Division I
programs in the country, having earned a spot among the final eight qualifying
for match play in the NCAA Championship each of the last two springs.
The Golden Flashes had to hold off a whole gang of Big Ten
competitors to claim the team title in the Lady Buckeye. Kent State trailed No.
20 Michigan State by five shots after an opening round of 5-over 293 Saturday
morning. The Golden Flashes shaved three shots off that deficit with a 3-over
291 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
A final round of 8-over 296, the best team round of the day,
left the Golden Flashes with a 16-over 880 total, one shot clear of the
Spartans, who posted a final round of 11-over 299 that left them at 17-over
881. It was the fifth tournament victory of the wraparound 2018-’19 season for
Kent State.
Michigan State, which will open its bid for a third straight
Big Ten title when the conference championship tees off Friday at TPC River’s
Bend in Maineville, Ohio, had opened with an even-par 288, the best team round
of the weekend, over the 6,319-yard, par-72 Scarlet Course layout. The Spartans
added a 6-over 294 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before coming up just
short in the final round.
No. 53 Maryland was another nine shots behind Michigan State
in third place at 26-over 890. The Terrapins fired a pair of 8-over 296s in
Saturday’s double-round before closing with a 10-over 298 Sunday.
No. 30 Illinois, which had won a Lady Buckeye shortened to
36 holes by weather a year ago, was five shots behind Maryland in fourth place
at 31-over 895 after a final round of 303. No. 68 Michigan closed with a 305 to
finish a shot behind Illinois at 32-over 896.
No. 98 Seton Hall finished last of 12 teams at 76-over 940
after a final round of 317, the worst of the weekend for the Pirates. I’m a big
believer, though, in playing tough competition on tough golf courses and the
Lady Buckeye should be the perfect tuneup for Seton Hall as it prepares to try
to unseat Georgetown in the Big East Championship, which tees off Friday at
Callawassie Island Golf Club in Okatie, S.C.
The Lady Buckeye also allowed teams to have six players
competing, while still scoring four. It gave coaches one more chance to
solidify their lineup of five for the conference championship.
Kent State was led by Pimnipa Panthong, its wonderful junior
from Thailand and the No. 21 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR) who finished tied for fourth at 3-over 219. The co-medalist a year ago,
Panthong matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 73 in Saturday
afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 74.
Panthong was coming off a strong showing in the inaugural
Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. She was tied for third after the
first two rounds at the Champions Retreat Golf Club before finishing up with a
6-over 78 on that other Alister MacKenzie design, the Augusta National Golf Club,
to finish in a tie for 17th at 3-over 219.
Backing up Panthong was Karoline Stormo, a senior from
Norway who finished alone in eighth place at 5-over 221. Stormo sandwiched a
1-under 71 in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 3-over 75s.
Kent State also got a strong showing from Michaela Finn, a
senior from Sweden who also teed it up in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur,
but failed to make the cut with a 150 total at Champions Retreat. Finn was Kent
State’s individual medalist in the final round with a 1-under 71 to finish in
the group tied for ninth at 6-over 222.
Kory Nielsen, a sophomore home girl from Kent, Ohio,
finished in the group tied for 13th at 224 as she added a
final-round 76 to the pair of 2-over 74s she posted in Saturday’s double-round.
Chloe Salort, a sophomore from France, gave Kent State a fifth finisher in the
top 20 as she landed in the group tied for 19th at 226. Salort
matched Panthong for the low round for Kent State in Saturday morning’s opening
round with an even-par 72.
Rounding out Kent State’s six-woman lineup for the Lady
Buckeye was freshman Thitapa Pakdeesettakul, who finished among the group tied
for 23rd at 11-over 227. Pakdeesettakul contributed a counting
1-over 73 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
The individual crown went to Division II University of
Indianapolis’ Pilar Echeverria, a junior from Guatemala who, despite closing
with a 2-over 74, was the only player in the talented field to finish under par
for 54 holes at 1-under 215. Echeverria opened with a sparkling 3-under 69 and
matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with an even-par 72.
I’m not sure who else is out there in Division II, but
Echeverria just might have something to say about who wins the individual national
title.
The Scarlet Course seemed to fit the eye of the Thai women
in the field as Maryland’s Virunpat Olankitkunchai, a sophomore from Thailand, was
the runnerup to Echeverria with an even-par 216 total. Olankitkunchai’s final
round of 1-under 71 matched the low round of the day Sunday.
Illinois senior Bing Singhsumalee is from Naperville, Ill.,
but she was born in Thailand and she finished alone in third with a 2-over 218
total. Singhsumalee was outstanding in Saturday’s double-round, opening with a
72 before firing a 2-under 70 in Saturday afternoon’s second round. She closed
with a 4-over 76.
Joining Kent State’s Panthong in a tie for fourth at 3-over
219 was Michigan State’s Sydney Naro, a freshman from Canada. Naro opened the
weekend with a bang as she fired the low round of the weekend, a sparkling
4-under 67 Saturday morning, before backing off in Saturday afternoon’s second
round with a 77. Naro closed with a 3-over 75 Sunday.
Naro’s teammate, Yurika Tanida, a sophomore from Japan,
shared sixth place with host Ohio State’s Lauren Peter, a freshman from Carmel,
N.Y., at 4-over 220, a shot behind the duo of Panthong and Naro.
Tanida matched the low round of the day with her 1-under 71
in the final round while Peter matched par on her home course in the final
round with a 72.
Sophomore Mia Kness, the 2016 PIAA Class AAA champion as a
senior at Peters Township, and Carolina Ronchel Salas, a junior from Spain, led
the way for Seton Hall as they finished among the group tied for 45th
at 18-over 234. Kness added a final-round 79 to the pair of 78s she shot in
Saturday’s double-round. Ronchel Salas
carded a pair of 76s in Saturday’s double-round before closing with an 82.
Sarah Fournat, a freshman from Santa Maria, Calif., ended up
in the group tied for 56th at 237 as she opened with a 77 and
followed that up with a pair of 80s.
Seton Hall’s other three players, juniors Maddie Sager, the
2015 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Owen J. Roberts, Sammie Staudt, a
four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Coatesville, and Lizzie Win of Sylvania,
Ohio, all landed in the group tied for 66th at 241.
Sager opened with a 79 before adding an 80 in Saturday
afternoon’s second round and closing with an 82. Win opened with a 78, but
struggled to an 83 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up
with an 80. Staudt sandwiched a second-round 83 with a pair of 79s.
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