They bill the Kiawah Island Spring Classic as the biggest
college golf tournament in the land and with 53 teams in the field, who’s going
to argue?
Host College of Charleston, at No. 66 in the latest Golfstat
rankings the top-rated team in the field, claimed the team crown, finishing six
shots clear of No. 95 Florida Gulf Coast.
It was the Cougars whom Delaware, ranked 124th,
was keeping an eye on while the Blue Hens finished alone in eighth place.
Two years ago, the College of Charleston denied Delaware a
fourth straight Colonial Athletic Conference championship by capturing the
title and the automatic bid to an NCAA regional. Delaware was once again the
runnerup a year ago, this time to North Carolina-Wilmington with the College of
Charleston a shot behind the Blue Hens in third place.
Delaware came away from Kiawah Island knowing it has some
work to do between now and the CAA Championship, which tees off in a little
more than a month at the Pinehurst Resort’s No. 6 Course in Pinehurst, N.C.
Led by individual co-champion Emily Dunlap, a freshman from
Greenville, S.C., the College of Charleston surged to a final round of
10-under-par 278 on the Kiawah Island Resort’s Osprey Point Course as the
Cougars finished at the top of a very large heap with a 4-under 860 total.
The Cougars were the only team to finish under par for the
tournament. The College of Charleston carded a 7-under 281 in Sunday’s opening
round over the 5,964-yard, par-72 Osprey Point Course before struggling to a
13-over 301 over the 5,858-yard, par-72 Oak Point Course that seems to have
played tougher than the Osprey Point layout.
The Cougars were in third place, seven shots behind the
leader, Boston University, and two shots behind Florida Gulf Coast, which was
in second place, after Monday’s second round.
But with Dunlap firing an efficient four-birdie, no-bogey
4-under 68 at Osprey Point in Tuesday’s final round to get a share of the
individual title, the Cougars rolled to the tournament crown.
It was the 30th tournament title for the College
of Charleston’s veteran coach, Jamie Futrell, and the Cougars’ third win for
the wraparound 2019-2020 season. They claimed titles last fall in the Elon
Invitational and the Palmetto Intercollegiate.
Not sure what the splits were for Florida Gulf Coast the
first two rounds, but it was steady, opening with a 1-over 289 and adding a
3-over 291 before closing with a 2-under 286 at Osprey Point that left the
Eagles six shots behind the College of Charleston in second place at 2-over
866. The top 27 teams after two rounds all played the Osprey Point Course in
Tuesday’s final round.
Boston University had grabbed the 36-hole lead by adding a 2-under
286 to its opening-round 289, but the Terriers closed with an 8-over 296 to
finish five shots behind Florida Gulf Coast in third place at 7-over 871. That
871 total bettered the BU program record for 54 holes on a par-72 course by 19
shots.
Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis, better known by its IUPUI
acronym, was another 11 shots behind Boston University in fourth place at
18-over 882 after closing with a 7-over 295.
No. 98 Stetson also closed with a 7-over 295 to finish a
shot behind IUPUI in fifth place at 19-over 883.
Quinnipiac shared sixth place with the Savannah College of
Art and Design, an NAIA program, at 21-over 885. Quinnipiac started slowly with
a 301, improved with a 295 in Monday’s second round and closed with a solid
1-over 289. SCAD had its best round in Tuesday’s final round with a 3-over 291.
Delaware struggled the first two days, opening with a
10-over 298 and adding a 13-over 301 in Monday’s second round before closing
with a solid 1-under 287 in Tuesday’s final round at Osprey Point to finish
alone in eighth place, six shots behind Quinnipiac and SCAD and 31 shots behind
its CAA rival College of Charleston.
Dunlap had opened with a 4-under 68 at Osprey Point and
struggled a little with a 1-over 73 on the tougher Oak Point layout before her
spotless final round at Osprey Point left her with a share of the individual title
with Jacksonville’s Maia Samuelsson, a freshman from Sweden, at 7-under 209.
Backing up Dunlap for the Cougars was Jodee Tindal, a senior
from Rock Hill, S.C. who closed with a 2-under 70 at Osprey Point to land among
a group of five players tied for seventh place at 1-under 215.
Tindal, who finished eighth in last spring’s CAA
Championship, which was held the Reserve Course at St. James Plantation in
Southport, N.C., opened with a 3-under 69 at Osprey Point and, like several of
her fellow Cougars, struggled at Oak Point with a 76.
Tindal was one of three College of Charleston players to
turn in a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final round at Osprey Point.
Anna-Theresa Ruttluff, a senior from Germany, fired a 70 to
land among the group tied for 15th place at 2-over 218. Ruttluff
matched par in the opening round at Osprey Point with a 72 before posting a 76
in Monday’s second round at Oak Point.
Victoria Huskey, a senior from Greenville, S.C., also closed
with a 70 to end up among the group tied for 49th place at 223.
Huskey, the runnerup in the CAA Championship’s individual chase last spring at
St. James Plantation, matched par in the opening round at Osprey Point before
registering an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round at Oak Point.
Rounding out the College of Charleston lineup was Olivia
Hamilton, a senior from England who closed with a 1-over 73 to finish among the
group tied for 103rd place at 229.
Jacksonville’s Samuelsson had the round of the week, making
eight birdies against two bogeys at Osprey Point for a sizzling final round of
6-under 66 that earned her a share of the individual title. It was Samuelsson’s
first college tournament win.
SCAD’s Alessia Cristina Avanzo, a sophomore from Italy, and
Texas-Arlington’s Kate Tran, a junior home girl from Arlington, Texas, finished
in a tie for third place at 4-under 212, three shots behind the co-medalists.
Both were steady all week as Avanzo added a pair of 2-under
70s to her opening round of even-par 72 while Tran sandwiched a 2-under 70 in
Monday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 71s.
IUPUI’s Amelie Svejda, a junior from Austria, had the
individual lead after 36 holes as she added a 3-under 69 to her opening-round
71. She fell back with a 1-over 73 in the final round at Osprey Point, but
still earned a fifth-place finish at 3-under 213.
Charleston Southern’s Ellen Hume, a sophomore from England,
finished alone in sixth place, a shot behind Svejda at 2-under 214.
Joining the College of Charleston’s Tindal in the quintet
tied for seventh place at 1-under 215 were a pair of Florida Atlantic players,
Laura Edmonds, a sophomore from Argentina, and Sarah Edwards, a freshman from
Jay, Fla., Oakland’s Amalia Shahzan, a junior from Malaysia, and Wofford’s
Kristine Torralba, a sophomore from the Philippines.
Edmonds opened with a 3-under 69 and added a 76 before
closing with a 2-under 70. Edwards got off to a solid start with a 2-under 70
and added a 1-over 73 before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Shahzan climbed the leaderboard in Tuesday’s final round
with a sparkling 4-under 68. Torralba added a pair of 1-over 73s to her strong
opening round of 3-under 69.
Delaware’s top two players, Ariane Klotz, a senior from New
Caledonia, and Thitaree Sakulbunpanich, a junior from Thailand, led the way for
the Blue Hens as Klotz finished alone in 14th place at 1-over 217
and Sakulbunpanich landed among the group tied for 15th place at
2-over 218.
Klotz wasn’t at her best the first two days at Kiawah
Island, opening with a 76 and adding a 73 in Monday’s second round, but she
finished strong with a sparkling 4-under 68 at Osprey Point. After opening with
a 74, Sakulbunpanich registered a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before
closing with a 1-over 73.
Klotz and Sakulbunpanich finished 10th and 11th,
respectively, in last spring’s CAA Championship at the St. James Plantation.
The Blue Hens also got a solid showing from Lexi Dart, a
freshman from England who sandwiched a 77 in Monday’s second round with a pair
of even-par 72s as she finished among the group tied for 36th place
at 5-over 221.
Isabella Rimton, a senior from Sweden, struggled in the
first two rounds at Kiawah Island, but closed with a solid 2-over 74 to end up
among the group tied for 146th place at 235.
Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Lene Sperling, a
freshman from Germany who finished up with a 78 to end up in the group tied for
157th place at 236. Sperling’s best effort was an opening-round 76
that was a counter for the Blue Hens.
Delaware’s Kylie Greulich, a senior from Huron, Ohio,
finished fifth in a field of 15 in the Kiawah Island Individual tournament held
at the 6,031-yard, par-72 Cougar Point Course. Greulich closed with a 5-over 77
for a 239 total.
There’s a lot of doom and gloom out there when the subject
of the future of golf comes up, but 53 teams descending on Kiawah Island for
this event would certainly seem to be a bright spot.
There were young ladies from just about every corner of the
planet in the field and few, if any, of them will ever play on the LPGA Tour.
But they all played some pretty good golf under tournament conditions and will
probably continue to be nice players for many years to come. Maybe there is a
little life left in the game, after all.
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