Southeastern Conference power South Carolina could do no
better than finish seventh at the first summit meeting of Division I women’s
golf, the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
But with Lois Kaye Go, a senior from the Philippines, back
in the lineup and many of the same college golf powerhouse programs in the
field, the Gamecocks claimed an impressive three-shot victory in the Windy City
Collegiate Championship, which wrapped up Tuesday at Glen View Golf Club in
Wilmette, Ill.
South Carolina fired the best team round of the tournament,
an 8-under-par 279 over the 6,368-yard, par-72 Glen View layout, in the second
round of Monday’s double round to move within a shot of SEC rival Florida
before finishing up with a 5-under 283 in Tuesday’s final round for a 14-under 850
total.
South Carolina got bust-out performance from Pauline
Roussin-Bouchard, a freshman from France who claimed the individual title with
an 11-under 205 total.
Reigning Pac-12 champion Southern California, playing
without U.S. Amateur champion Gabriela Ruffels, carded a 3-under 285 in
Tuesday’s final round to claim runnerup honors at 11-under 853. The Trojans,
the defending Windy City champion, had opened with a 2-under 286 before adding
a 6-under 282 in Monday afternoon’s second round and trailed South Carolina by
just a shot heading into the final round.
Florida, behind individual runnerup Sierra Brooks, a senior
from Orlando, Fla., closed with a 4-over 292 to finish five shots behind
Southern Cal in third place at 6-under 858. The Gators had posted rounds of
3-under 285 and 7-under 281 in Monday’s double round to take a one-shot lead
over South Carolina into Tuesday’s final round.
The next three teams in the 15-team field were the last
three national champions.
Arizona State, which captured the 2017 NCAA title at Rich
Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., finished fifth at 5-under 859, a shot
behind Florida. Reigning national champion Duke, a perennial Atlantic Coast
Conference power, was three shots behind the Sun Devils in fifth place at
2-under 862. Arizona, the 2018 NCAA champion at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater,
Okla., was another five shots behind Duke in sixth place at 3-over 867.
All three of those most recent national champions were also
in the field in the ANNIKA International. Southern Cal, Arizona State and
Arizona all come out of the Pac-12, the nation’s most powerful women’s golf
conference.
Roussin-Bouchard took control of the individual chase with a
sparkling 6-under 66 in Monday afternoon’s second round after she had opened
with a 2-under 70. Another 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final round gave her an
11-under total.
Backing up Roussin-Bouchard for the Gamecocks were their two
senior veterans, Go and Ana Pelaez of Spain, both of whom were among the group
tied for 11th place at 1-under 215. Go closed with a clutch 2-under
70 and Pelaez carded a solid 3-under 69 in the final round to help South
Carolina keep the rest of the talented field at bay.
Emily Price, a sophomore from England, gave South Carolina a
fourth player inside the top 19 at Glen View as she finished among the group
tied for 19th place at 1-over 217. Price contributed solid rounds of
even-par 72 and 1-under 71 in Monday’s double round before closing with the
Gamecocks’ final counter, a 2-over 74.
Mathilde Claisse, like Roussin-Bouchard, a freshman from
France, rounded out the South Carolina lineup as she finished among the group
tied for 42nd at 6-over 222. Both of Claisse’s rounds in Monday’s
double round, a 1-over 73 and an even-par 72, were counters for the Gamecocks.
Brooks, the runnerup to Arkansas’ Maria Fassi in the NCAA
individual chase last spring at Fassi’s home course, The Blessings Golf Club in
Fayetteville, Ark., and No. 15 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR), opened with a 5-under 67 before adding a 1-under 71 that left her two
shots behind Roussin-Bouchard in second place.
A couple of Southern Cal standouts, Jennifer Chang, a junior
from Cary, N.C. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, and Allisen Corpuz, a senior
from Honolulu, Hawaii and No. 42 in the Women’s WAGR, were among a trio of
players tied for third place at 6-under 210, two shots behind Brooks.
Chang closed with a 3-under 69 while Corpuz recorded a third
straight 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final round. According to the Southern Cal
website, Ruffels, a junior from Australia, missed the Windy City because she’s
going to tee it up in the Japan Women’s Open.
Joining Chang and Corpuz in the trio at 6-under was
Virginia’s Riley Smyth, a sophomore from the women’s golf hotbed of Cary, N.C.
Smyth was only a shot behind Roussin-Bouchard after rounds of 68 and 69 in
Monday’s double round before falling back a little with a 1-over 73 in
Tuesday’s final round.
Leading a talented foursome tied for sixth at 3-under 213
was Arizona State’s Linn Grant, a freshman from Sweden and No. 17 in the
Women’s WAGR. Grant, a semifinalist in the Women’s Amateur Championship at
Royal County Down in Northern Ireland this summer, carded a pair of 2-under 70s
after opening with a 1-over 73.
Jaravee Boonchant, a junior from Thailand and No. 27 in the
Women’s WAGR, closed with an even-par 72 to join the group at 3-under.
Boonchant was a key member of a Duke team that defeated ACC rival Wake Forest
in the Final Match in last spring’s NCAA Championship at The Blessings.
Arizona’s Yu-Sang Hou, a junior from Taiwan and No. 44 in
the Women’s WAGR, closed with a 1-under 71 to get it to 3-under. Hou was just a
freshman, but held up her end in the Wildcats’ run to the 2018 NCAA title at
Karsten Creek.
Rounding out the talented quartet at 213 was Vanderbilt’s
Auston Kim, a sophomore from St. Augustine, Fla. and No. 40 in the Women’s
WAGR. Kim, who captured the individual title in leading the Commodores to the
team crown in the NCAA Auburn Regional last spring, fired a 4-under 68 in
Monday’s second round before closing with an even-par 72.
Arizona State’s Alessandra Fanali, a sophomore from Italy,
rounded out the top 10 at Glen View as she carded a final round of 3-under 69
to finish alone in 10th place at 2-under 214.
If you’re counting, that was seven members of the Women’s
WAGR top 50 in the top 10 at Glen View, making the victory by Roussin-Bouchard
all the more impressive.
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