Led by individual champion Plata, Michigan State claims team crown in Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational

   It rained on the final day of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. It made for some difficult conditions. You know, Big Ten weather.

   And Big Ten power Michigan State emerged from a tight pack to pull out a one-shot victory over the elite field, the second straight tournament victory for the Spartans, who claimed the title at their Mary Fossum Invitational last month.

   Led by individual champion Valery Plata, a sophomore from Colombia, Michigan State posted a 1-over 289 in Sunday’s final round to finish with a 12-under-par 852 total over the 6,379-yard, par-72 Finley layout.

   Southeastern Conference power Alabama closed with a 2-over 290 to come up a shot short of the Spartans with an 11-under 853 total. At this time last year, the Crimson Tide were the dominant team in Division I, rampaging to team titles behind the trio of two-time U.S. Amateur champion Kristen Gillman, Lauren Stephenson and junior college transfer Jiwon Jeon. They were three of the four semifinalists in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Golf Club of Tennessee.

   But by the end of the fall portion of the 2018-’19 season, Gillman and Stephenson were gone, having qualified for the LPGA Tour and having little left to prove on the college level. Jeon does not appear on this fall’s roster, so it appears she, too, is gone.

   But Alabama wasn’t going to stay down for long and the Crimson Tide appear to be a force to be reckoned with after an understandably tough spring earlier this year.

   The best team round of the day belonged to Ohio State, which halted Michigan State’s run of two straight Big Ten titles by claiming the conference crown last spring. The Buckeyes were the only team to better par in Sunday’s final round with a 6-under 282 that enabled them to share third place with defending national champion and defending Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational champion Duke at 9-under 855 The Blue Devils closed with a 2-over 290.

   Reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest, which fell to conference rival Duke in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match last spring at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., was two shots behind Ohio State and Duke in fifth place at 7-under 857 after struggling a little in a final round of 7-over 295.

   Host North Carolina, playing without its senior leader Brynn Walker, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Radnor, was another shot behind Wake Forest in sixth place at 6-under 858 after closing with a solid 1-over 289.

   Two more SEC teams, South Carolina and Kentucky, finished seventh and eighth in the loaded 16-team field with respective totals of 3-under 861 and 2-under 862.

   The Gamecocks had the second-best score of the day Sunday, an even-par 288. Kentucky had led the field after two spectacular rounds had left it at 15-under. The Wildcats, however, faltered in the final round with a 301. You can’t take those two rounds away from them, though, and they have every right to draw a ton of confidence from their performance.

   Plata beat a strong field to win her first individual title and lead the way for Michigan State. She fired her second straight 4-under 68 after opening with a 69 to finish at 11-under 205.

   Senior Allyson Geer-Park, the Spartans’ veteran leader from Brighton, Mich., fell back a little with a final round of 3-over 75 to finish among the group tied for ninth at 3-under 213. Yurika Tanida, a junior from Japan, came through with a crucial 2-under 70 in the final round to end up in the group tied for 13^th place at 2-under 214.

   Nina Rissi, a freshman from Spain, and Haylin Harris, a sophomore form Carmel, Ind., both landed among the group tied for 57^th place at 7-over 223. Rissi’s final-round 76 was the critical final counter for the Spartans while Harris closed with a 79.

   Alabama’s Kenzie Wright, a senior from Frisco, Texas whose college career started at SMU, matched Plata’s final-round 68, to claim runnerup honors, two shots behind Plata at 9-under 207.

   The two players who shared the individual lead with Plata after two rounds, Duke’s Jaravee Boonchant, a junior from Thailand and No. 26 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Ohio State’s Aneka Seumanutafa, a sophomore from Emmitsburg, Md., each matched par in the final round and finished in a tie for third at 7-under 209.

   The host Tar Heels were led by Jennifer Zhou, a sophomore from China who matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish alone in fifth place in the individual chase at 5-under 211.

   Heading a group of three players tied for sixth at 4-under 212 was Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio, a junior from Cary, N.C. and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR. And the reigning ACC individual champion. And the defending Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational champion. Oh yeah, and the winner of the Pan American Games women’s individual gold medal. Oh, and a member of the U.S. mixed gold-medal winning team.

   Yeah, Migliaccio is pretty good. She closed with a 1-over 73. Pretty sure Migliaccio’s lofty Women’s WAGR ranking exempts her into the LPGA Q-Series, which tees off later this month at Pinehurst. It will be interesting to see what she does if she qualifies for the LPGA Tour.

   Migliaccio’s teammate from a year ago, 2018 NCAA individual champion Jennifer Kupcho, deferred accepting her LPGA Tour card until the summer and played out her senior year at Wake Forest. It’s not an easy call, but Kupcho played well enough, despite her late start, to retain her playing privileges for 2020.

   Migliaccio was joined at 4-under by Ohio State’s Adeena Shears, a senior from Parkersburg, W.Va., and Tulane’s Carlota Palacios, a freshman from Spain. Shears finished up with a 1-under 71 while Palacios closed with a 2-over 74.

   Backing up Zhou for North Carolina was Krista Junkkari, a freshman from Finland who matched par in the final round to finish among the group tied for 25^th place at even-par 216. Nicole Lu, a sophomore from Taiwan, closed with a 1-over 73 to end up in the group tied for 32^nd place at 2-over 218.

   Ava Bergner, a junior from Germany, was the third Tar Heel to match par in the final round with a 72 as she finished in the group tied for 38^th place at 3-over 219. Rounding out the starting lineup for North Carolina was Kayla Smith, a freshman from Burlington, N.C. who fell back in the final round with a 77 to finish among the group tied for 42^nd place at 4-over 220.

   Walker, who reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. this past summer, was out of the lineup because she’ll be teeing it up in the LPGA Qualifying Tournament’s Stage II, which gets under way Monday at the Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Fla.

   A minimum of the top-30 finishers at Stage II will move on to the LPGA Q-Series at Pinehurst.

   Competing as individuals for North Carolina were Aleks Golde, a freshman from Atlanta, and Mariana Ocano, a senior from St. Petersburg, Fla. playing in her final Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational. Golde closed with an 83 to end up in a tie for 91^st place at 238 while Ocano had her best round of the weekend, a 79, to finish alone in 95^th place at 243.

   Furman, which finished ninth in the team standings at 6-over 870, got a solid showing from freshman Caroline Wrigley, who captured the PIAA Class AAA title as a senior at North Allegheny a year ago. Wrigley closed with a 5-over 77 to end up among the group tied for 46^th place at 5-over 221.