Kentucky, with some serious powerhouses arrayed behind it,
grabbed a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel
Invitational Saturday at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course
behind a sizzling 6-under-par 66 from Casey Ott, a sophomore from Conway, Ark.
The Wildcats, out of the Southeastern Conference, fired a
10-under 278 over the 6,379-yard, par-72 Finley Golf Course layout after
opening with a 5-under 283 Friday for a 36-hole total of 15-under 561.
That gave them a one-shot lead over Atlantic Coast
Conference power Wake Forest, the runnerup in last spring’s Final Match in the
NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. The Demon
Deacons, who had taken the lead after Friday’s opening round with a 6-under
282, added a solid 8-under 280 to end up a shot behind Kentucky at 14-under 562
heading into Sunday’s final round.
Kentucky is well aware of perennial SEC power Alabama as the
Crimson Tide carded an 8-under 280 to climb into a tie for third place with Big
Ten power Michigan State at 13-under 563. The Spartans, behind Valery Plata, a
sophomore from Colombia who is one of the three individual co-leaders, charged
into contention with a sparkling 11-under 277.
The best round of the day belonged to reigning national
champion Duke as the Blue Devils, getting a 6-under 66 from another of the
three individual co-leaders, Jaravee Boonchant, a junior from Thailand and No.
26 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), posted a sizzling 16-under
272, one of the best team rounds in the history of one of the country’s most
decorated programs.
That vaulted Duke, which opened with a so-so 5-over 293,
into fifth place at 11-under 565.
Host North Carolina, playing without senior leader Brynn
Walker, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Radnor, was another four shots
behind the Dookies in sixth place at 7-under 569. The Tar Heels added a 3-under
285 to their opening-round 284.
Walker, who plays out of St. Davids Golf Club, is 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.
Tied for seventh in the loaded 18-team field at 3-under 573
were reigning Big Ten champion Ohio State, South Carolina, another SEC power,
and Furman.
The Buckeyes, led by the third of the three individual
co-leaders, Aneka Seumanutafa, a sophomore from Emmitsburg, Md., added a 1-over
289 to their opening-round 284. The Gamecocks rebounded from an opening-round
293 with an 8-under 280. The Paladins added a 4-under 284 to their
opening-round 289.
Ott matched par in the opening round with a 72 before
matching the low round of the day with her 66. That left her in a group of four
players tied for fourth place at 6-under 138, just a shot behind the individual
co-leaders.
Backing up Ott for Kentucky was Rikke Svejgard Nielsen, a
junior from Denmark who added a 1-under 71 to her opening-round 70 to land in
the group tied for 13th place at 3-under 141.
Jensen Castle, a freshman from West Columbia, S.C., and
Sarah Shipley, a senior from Hastings, Mich., gave the Wildcats four players
inside the top 18 in the individual standings as they both are in the group
tied for 18th place at
2-under 142.
Shipley, who opened with a 1-over 73, fired Kentucky’s
second-best round of the day, a 3-under 69 while Castle shaved four shots off
her opening-round 76 by matching par with a 72 in Saturday’s second round.
Rounding out the Kentucky lineup was Marissa Wenzler, a
freshman from Centerville, Ohio who added a 75 to her opening round of 1-under
71 to join the group tied for 46th place at 2-over 146.
Boonchant, who played a big role in Duke’s run to the
national championship last spring at The Blessings, matched the low round of
the day with a 6-under 66 after opening with a 1-under 71 to get her place at
the top of the individual leaderboard at 7-under 137.
Plata added a 4-under 68 to her opening-round 69 to join the
tie at the top and Seumanutafa, who had grabbed the lead after an opening-round
66, fell back to a 1-under 71, but maintained a share of the top spot.
Michigan State senior Allyson Greer-Park, a veteran of the
Spartans’ back-to-back Big Ten championship teams in 2017 and 2018, was another
player who matched the low round of the day with a 6-under 66 as she joined Kentucky’s Ott and
two other players a shot out of the lead in a tie for fourth at 6-under 138.
Rounding out the quartet tied for fourth at 6-under were
Alabama’s Angelica Moresco, a junior from Italy, and Tulane’s Carlota Palacios,
a freshman from Spain.c
Moresco, a veteran of the Crimson Tide’s 2018 NCAA runnersup
at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., carded a second straight
3-under 69 while Palacios posted a solid 5-under 67 after opening with a
1-under 71.
Leading the way for North Carolina was Jennifer Zhou, a sophomore
from China who surged into the group tied for eighth place at 5-under 139 with
a 3-under 69 after opening with a 70.
Backing up Zhou was Kayla Smith, a freshman from Burlington,
N.C. who added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 73 and was among the group
tied for 23rd place at 1-under 143. Fellow freshman Krista Junkkari
of Finland was among the group tied for 30th place at even-par 144
after adding a 1-under 71 to her opening-round 73.
Nicole Lu, a sophomore from Taiwan who had opened with a
solid 3-under 69, fell back with a throw-out 76 that left her in the group tied
for 38th place at 1-over 145. Ava Bergner, a junior from Germany,
landed among the group tied for 53rd place at 3-over 147, posting a
3-over 75 after matching par in the opening round with a 72.
North Carolina also has two players competing as
individuals, led by Aleks Golde, a freshman from Atlanta who was tied for 84th
place at 155 after adding an 80 to her opening-round 75. Mariana Ocano, a
senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., landed in the group tied for 95th
place at 164 after improving by four shots from her opening-round 84 with an
80.
Furman is getting a solid showing from one of its top
freshman, Caroline Wrigley, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at North
Allegheny last fall. Wrigley joined the group tied for 30th place at
even-par 144 as she matched par for the second day in a row with a 72.
Wrigley came up just short of making the match-play bracket
at both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point,
Wis. and the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss.
this past summer.
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