Arkansas grabs three-shot lead over Kent State as women's college golf gets going again in UCF Challenge

    Most of the teams teeing it up in the opening round of the UCF (as in University of Central Florida) Challenge Sunday at the Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. were playing their first rounds of competitive college golf since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the wraparound 2019-2020 season last March.

   One exception was Southeastern Conference power Arkansas, which, along with its SEC counterparts and teams from the Big 12, did get in some tournaments last fall. That might help explain the presence of the Razorbacks at the top of the leaderboard with a 15-under-par 273 opening round over the 6,349-yard, par-72 Eagle Creek layout.

   But even Arkansas was playing its first round after the traditional midseason break in the college season. A lot of teams in the large 17-team field played pretty well and I suspect many of the women teeing it up in a college golf tournament again were beyond thrilled just to be out there competing.

   Kent State, for instance, was playing as well as any team in the country under then-first-year coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion at Lansdale Catholic. When the Golden Flashes won the UCF Challenge a year ago, it was their fourth team title in their last five tournaments. When the pandemic halted the season in mid-March, Kent State was No. 6 in the Golfstat rankings.

   The premature end of the season hurt everybody, but Kent State had a pretty good thing going and will be forever left wondering what if.

   The Golden Flashes, behind individual leader Emily Price, a junior from England who fired a sizzling 7-under 65, were alone in second place, three shots behind Arkansas at 12-under 276.

   Wake Forest was ranked No. 1 by Golfstat when the 2019-’20 season came to a sudden and stunning end. The Demon Deacons picked up right where they left off last March as they were tied for third with Atlantic Coast Conference rival Miami at 11-under 277. The American Athletic Conference’s Houston was three shots behind Wake Forest and Miami in fifth place at 8-under 280.

   It was a really encouraging start for Denise St. Pierre’s Penn State team as the Nittany Lions opened with a solid 4-under 284. Penn State of the Big Ten Conference, was a non-threatening ninth in the UCF Challenge a year ago.

   The ACC’s Virginia, getting a solid showing in the long-awaited college debut for Tower Hill product Jennifer Cleary, was a shot behind Penn State in seventh place at 3-under 285. Another SEC entry, Mississippi State, was another shot behind the Cavaliers in eighth place at 2-under 286. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 21 by Golfstat when the season ended in March.

   Arkansas was led by Ela Anacona, a sophomore from Argentina, and Cory Lopez, a freshman from Mexico, who were two of the three players tied for second place in the individual standings, a shot behind Price at 6-under 66. The youthful Razorbacks had a third player in the top six as Miriam Ayora, a freshman from Spain, was part of a nine-player logjam tied for sixth place at 3-under 69.

   Arkansas’ most experienced player, Brooke Matthews, a redshirt senior from Rogers, Ark., matched par with a 72 and was part of a large group tied for 31^st place. Rounding out the Arkansas lineup was Kajai Mistry, a sophomore from South Africa who was among the group tied for 62^nd place with a 3-over 75.

   Price finished strong, making birdies on four of the last five holes, including the last three in a row, in her brilliant eight-birdie, one bogey 65 that gave her the individual lead.

   Joining Arkansas’ Anacona and Lopez in the tie for second place at 66 was Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, a sophomore from Asheville, N.C. and No. 34 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Kuehn earned herself one of those iconic Putter Boy trophies with her victory in the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

   You tune into this blog, you’re going to get some Curtis Cup intrigue. Kuehn and her teammate Emilia Migliaccio, a senior from Cary, N.C. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, got to Orlando early as they were coming off a two-day practice session Friday and Saturday for candidates for this year’s U.S. Curtis Cup team at nearby Lake Nona Golf & Country Club under the watchful eye of U.S. captain Sarah Ingram.

   Migliaccio was a throw-out for Wake Forest with a 77 Sunday, which is about as bad as she can possibly play.

   Price, the leader, is on a preliminary list of 17 candidates for the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team released by the Royal & Ancient last fall. As is her Kent State teammate Coley McGinty, a sophomore from England who was part of that big group tied for sixth place at 3-under.

   As is Wake Forest’s Lauren Walsh, a sophomore from Ireland and No. 42 in the Women’s WAGR who backed up her potential Curtis Cup rival Kuehn by also joining the group at 3-under. Got all that. Hard to believe you can get a little Curtis Cup preview in the UCF Challenge, but there you go.

   The Curtis Cup Match, originally scheduled to be played in June of 2020, is now set to tee off Aug. 26 at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales.

   Sitting alone in fifth place in the individual standings was Miami’s Kristyna Frydlova, a junior from the Czech Republic who posted a 4-under 68 that left her two shots behind the trio tied for second place.

   Frydlova’s teammate, Renate Grimstad, a senior from Norway, was also in the large group at 3-under. Grimstad is one of the many players who returned for a fifth season after the NCAA offered an extra year of eligibility to make up for the lost spring of 2020. Grimstad was having an outstanding season when it came to a premature end last spring, including grabbing the individual title and leading the Hurricanes to a strong third-place finish in the UCF Challenge a year ago.

   Virginia had two players, Riley Smyth, a junior from Cary, N.C., and Celeste Valinho, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., in that nine-player tie for sixth place at 3-under. Smyth battled her way to the quarterfinals in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

   The third-best score turned in by a Cavalier in Sunday’s opening-round was the even-par 72 registered by Cleary, who landed in the group tied for 31^st place. Coming off an outstanding junior career, the Wilmington, Del. native saw the fall campaign of her freshman season at Virginia called off by the pandemic, but she was ready to go when she made her debut for the Cavaliers Sunday.

   Rounding out the group at 3-under were Iowa State’s Liyana Darisic, a freshman from Malaysia, Kennesaw State’s Tai Anudit, a senior from Thailand, and North Carolina Wilmington’s Mallory Fobes, a sophomore from East Bend, N.C.

   Leading the way for Penn State were Mathilde Delavallde, a sophomore from France, and fifth-year senior Megan McLean, a Voorhees High product, both of whom joined the group tied for 15^th place, each signing for a 2-under 70. Delavallde had a strong freshman season cut short by the pandemic while McLean is another player who decided to take up the NCAA on its offer of an extra year of eligibility.

   Three more Nittany Lions, Sarah Willis, a junior from Eaton, Ohio, Isha Dhruva, a sophomore from Katy, Texas, and Victoria Tip-Aucha, a freshman from Thailand via Vienna, Va., matched par with 72s to round out a really strong showing in Penn State’s opener.

   St. Pierre brought along sophomore Taylor Waller, a Canon-McMillan product, to play as an individual and Waller carded a 3-over 75 and was among the group tied for 62^nd place.

 

 

 

 

 

San Diego State is chill in pulling away for team crown in Southwestern Invitational

   San Diego State probably wouldn’t be your pick among the contenders heading into the final round to come out on top in the Southwestern Invitational, which wrapped up Wednesday at North Ranch Country Club in unusually chilly conditions in Westlake Village, Calif.

   I only looked in briefly to The Golf Channel’s coverage of the final round of the Southwestern, but cold-weather gear was very much in evidence. Didn’t the San Diego State kids go to San Diego State to avoid that kind of weather?

   The Aztecs, though, proved to be as gnarly as the weather as they were the only team in a strong 12-team field to break 300 in the final round over the 6,992-yard, par-72 North Ranch layout, their final round of 5-over 293 giving San Diego State an impressive three-shot victory over Pac-12 power Arizona State.

   Doesn’t sound like the weather was particularly SoCalish the entire three days, but with most of the field having already lost the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season to the coronavirus pandemic, I’m sure most of the guys were happy to just to be out there competing again.

   San Diego State opened with a solid 6-over 294 and got it going a little in Tuesday’s second round with a 1-under 287. The conditions must have been decent for the second round because North Ranch surrendered some considerably lower scores than the other two days.

   Still, the Aztecs entered the final round in a tie for third place with SMU, seven shots behind Arizona State and two behind Louisville out of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

   But San Diego State, behind a solid 2-under 70 from Zhao Jin, a senior from China, was much the best in the final round, its 293 giving the Aztecs a 10-over 874 total.

   Arizona State, which was ranked No. 6 by Golfstat when the 2019-’20 season came to a premature end, closed with a 303 to earn runnerup honors with a 13-over 877 total.

   The Sun Devils, behind the impressive individual winner, David Puig, a sophomore from Spain and No. 31 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), opened with a 4-over 292 and took command with a 6-under 282 in the second round, Puig leading the way with a scintillating 6-under 66.

   SMU, out of the American Athletic Conference, closed with a 301 to take third place with an 18-over 882 total that left it five shots behind Arizona State.

   The Mustangs had earned the final spot in the match-play bracket in the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. and were No. 12 in the Golfstat rankings when last season ended in March.

   Louisville, which was ranked 14^th last spring when the pandemic shut things down, closed with a 306 to finish alone in fourth place at 21-over 885, three shots behind SMU.

   Nobody was playing better in the early part of 2020 than Pepperdine was and the Waves’ perch atop the Golfstat rankings when the pandemic arrived reflected that. Pepperdine showed up at North Ranch as the defending champion and promptly shot itself out of contention with an opening-round 308.

   The Waves rebounded with the best team round of the tournament, a sparkling 11-under 277 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 15-over 303 that left them in fifth place at 24-over 888, three shots behind Louisville.

   Pepperdine, despite losing Haskins Award winner Sahith Theegala to the professional ranks, remains incredibly deep. Two of the players the Waves brought to North Ranch to compete as individuals, Joshua McCarthy, a redshirt senior from Danville, Calif., and R.J. Manke, a senior from Lakewood, Wash., finished 2-3, respectively, behind Puig in the individual standings.

   Pepperdine did get to play a little last fall, including an impressive victory in the East Lake Cup in November, the Waves dispatching Texas Tech in the semifinals and perennial Big 12 power Oklahoma in the final.

   It was another 12 shots back to Pac-12 power Southern California in sixth place, the Trojans closing with a 303 for a 36-over 900 total.

   ACC power Georgia Tech was two shots behind Southern Cal in seventh place at 38-over 902 after finishing up with a 305. The Yellow Jackets were No. 7 in the Golfstat rankings when the season was halted last March. With a lineup that had the reigning U.S. Amateur champion in Andy Ogletree and a guy in Tyler Strafaci who would win both the North & South Amateur and the U.S. Amateur in the summer of 2020, Georgia Tech would have been a tough out if it had managed to make it to the match-play bracket in an NCAA Championship that never was.

   The Aztecs were led by Youssef Guezzale, a junior home boy from San Diego who was part of a quartet of four players tied for third place at even-par 216. Guezzale followed up an opening-round 73 with a sparkling 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 75.

   Junior Joey Moore is probably one of those San Diego State guys who came to southern California to escape the winters in his home town of Billings, Mont. I’m guessing Moore has played in tougher conditions than the players faced Wednesday. He had matched par in the opening round with a 72 and carded a solid 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round. He matched Guezzale’s 3-over 75 in the final round and finished among the group tied for ninth place at 2-over 218.

   After struggling a little with a pair of 75s in the first two rounds, Jin matched the low round of the day with his 2-under 70 in Wednesday’s final round that left him in the group tied for 11^th place at 4-over 220. It was a huge round for the Aztecs.

   Puwit Anupansuebsai, a freshman from Thailand, gave San Diego State four players in the top 20 as he closed with a second straight 1-over 73 that left him in the group tied for 20^th place at 224. Anupansuebsai earned himself a match-play berth in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes.

   Rounding out the San Diego State lineup was another home boy from San Diego, senior Steve Sugimoto, who finished among the group tied for 26^th place at 226. Sugimoto’s opening round of 2-over 74 was a key counter for the Aztecs.

   Puig seemed to be playing a different golf course than the rest of the field. His opening-round 70 matched the low round of the day and then he ripped off five birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey in his brilliant second-round 66. In Wednesday’s tough conditions, Puig was rock solid with 16 pars and two birdies as he again matched the low round of the day with a 70 that gave him a 10-under 206 total.

   Pepperdine’s McCarthy was nine shots behind Puig in second place at 1-under 215. McCarthy matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round before matching the low round of the day in the final round with a 2-under 70.

   Pepperdine’s Manke was part of the four-way logjam at even-par 216 along with San Diego State’s Guezzale. After opening with a 2-over 74, Manke fired a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 73.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for third place even-par were SMU’s Noah Goodwin, a junior from Corinth, Texas, and Louisville’s Matthias Schmid, a senior from Germany and No. 15 in the WAGR.

   Goodwin won the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur crown at the Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan., beating Matthew Wolff, who you can watch on TV playing on the PGA Tour these days, in the final. Goodwin matched the best round of the day in Monday’s opening round with a 2-under 70 and added a 71 before closing with a 75.

   Schmid carded a solid 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round after opening with a 71, but struggled a little in Wednesday’s final round with a 77.

   Goodwin’s SMU teammate, Mac Meissner, a senior from San Antonio, Texas and No. 21 in the WAGR, and Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, a graduate student from Taiwan and No. 4 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for seventh place at 1-over 217.

   Meissner was the AAC individual champion two years ago before leading the Mustangs on their unlikely run to match play in the NCAA Championship. He displayed his explosiveness with a brilliant 8-under 64 at Bandon Dunes in the opening round of qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Amateur. Meissner matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 before finishing up with a 74.

   Yu was steady throughout, carding a pair of even-par 72s in the second and third rounds after opening with a 73. The North Ranch layout seems to agree with Yu, who finished in third place in the Southwestern a year ago.

 

 

 

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Florida needs a playoff to edge Liberty for team crown in Timuquana Collegiate

   Florida played in three tournaments during the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 college golf season, which is a lot more than most teams did.

   The majority of college golfers from schools large, small and everywhere in between, didn’t get to play any competitive golf as the coronavirus pandemic continued unabated across America in the fall.

   But as players in the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 proved, golf was one sport that could be played safely. Some long trips were called off as a concession to the pandemic, but if you could get your kids to a tournament safely, you could play.

   The good news is that it seems most of the top Division I programs are going to play some golf this spring with an eye toward having the postseason that was denied to college players in 2020 by the pandemic. My reaction to that news is simple:Yay!

   Florida, led by Ricky Castillo, a sophomore from Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), might make some noise when the top teams gather for the first NCAA Championship in two years at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in May.

   The SEC’s Gators were No. 23 in the Golfstat rankings when the 2019-’20 season was shut down in March. They looked pretty sharp in the Timuquana Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at Timuquana Country Club, a Donald Ross classic in Jacksonville, Fla. that hosted the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

   Florida wiped out a seven-shot deficit to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Virginia with a final round of 4-under 284 over the 6,949-yard, par-72 Timuquana layout and then edged Liberty on the second hole of a playoff to get its spring campaign off on a winning note.

   The Gators got off to a solid start with an 8-under 278 in the opening round of Monday’s double round before adding a 5-under 281 in the afternoon round. Their final-round 284 left them with a 21-under 843 total.

   Liberty trailed Virginia by eight shots going into Tuesday’s final round after the Flames had the best team round of the tournament Monday afternoon, a sparkling 15-under 273. Liberty finished up with a solid 5-under 283 to catch Florida at 21-under 843 before falling on the second hole of the playoff.

   Liberty had snuck in a dual match with Charleston Southern two weekends ago, the first action for the Flames since last spring as their fall campaign was a victim of the pandemic.

   The ACC called off the fall campaign, but Virginia got off to a blazing start, firing rounds of 13-under 275 and 11-under 277 in Monday’s double-round. The Cavaliers stumbled a little in Tuesday’s final round with a 4-over 292 that left them a shot out of the playoff in third place with a 20-under 844 total, but if Virginia was concerned about being rusty, it didn’t seem to be a problem.

   More likely the Cavaliers, like the rest of the field, couldn’t wait to get back out on the golf course and compete again.

   Tournament co-host North Florida, one of the most underrated programs in Division I, shared fourth place with a member of college golf’s royalty, Oklahoma State, at 17-under 847, three shots behind Virginia. The Ospreys and the Cowboys each closed with a 9-under 279, the low team round of the day Tuesday, to move up the leaderboard.

   Florida was No. 15 in the final Golfstat rankings of the fall in November. Oklahoma State, which won the latest of its 11 NCAA crowns in 2018 on its home course at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, stood at No. 23 in November. Looks like Golfstat didn’t rank any of the teams that didn’t compete in the fall, which makes sense.

   Virginia’s ACC rival, Florida State, got into contention with a sizzling 14-under 274 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 286 to finish alone in sixth place at 16-under 848, a shot behind North Florida and Oklahoma State.

   American Athletic Conference power South Florida closed with a solid 4-under 284 to finish alone in seventh place at 9-under 855, seven shots behind Florida State. Another ACC entry, Notre Dame, finished with a 1-over 289 to finish two shots behind South Florida in eighth place in the 11-team field with a 7-under 287 total.

   Notre Dame was one of the hottest teams in the country during the fall portion of the 2019-’20 season and the Irish were still No. 20 in the Golfstat rankings when the season was halted in March. They were likely headed to the best season in the history of the program. It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame can recapture some of that magic it had conjured up in the fall of 2019.

   Castillo led the way for Florida as a 5-under 67 in Monday afternoon’s second round got him into contention for the individual title. He faded a little in the final round with a 1-over 73 that the Gators had the luxury of tossing, but his 6-under 210 total left him in the group tied for eighth place.

   Castillo’s spring might also include a little team competition known as the Walker Cup as the United States and Great Britain & Ireland will tee it up at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. He was among a group of top American amateurs invited for a Walker Cup practice session last month in Orlando, Fla.

   The event, being played in the spring in the United States for the first time in its storied history, will be jammed in the middle of the NCAA postseason. But hey, Walker Cup, Seminole … everybody seems to be very much on board. The top three Americans in the WAGR at some point this spring will be automatic qualifiers for the U.S. team. Castillo is one of those three at the moment.

   Backing up Castillo for the Gators was Manny Girona, a redshirt junior from Windermere, Fla. who sandwiched a 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 1-under 71s to finish among the group tied for 15^th place at 4-under 212.

   Yuxin Lin, a sophomore from China and No. 20 in the WAGR, and Joe Pagdin, a freshman from England, gave Florida four players in the top 20 as they were part of the group tied for 19^th place at 3-under 213. They shared low-Gator honors in the final round, each closing with a crucial 2-under 70.

   Tyler Wilkes, a freshman from Tampa, Fla., finished among the group tied for 37^th place with a 2-over 218 total, but that’s a little misleading. The kid fired a 5-under 67 in the opening round that was easily Florida’s low round of the day and had as much to do with the Gators winning the tournament as anybody.

   Florida State’s Vincent Norrman, a graduate student from Sweden and No. 16 in the WAGR, birdied the final hole to earn a one-shot victory in the individual chase. You’re going to see a lot of this this spring as Norrman took up the NCAA’s offer of an extra year of eligibility after losing the spring of his senior season at Division II Georgia Southwestern.

   Popping up on the Florida State roster, Norrman opened with a 4-under 68 and added a sparkling 6-under 66 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Somehow that still left him a shot behind Purdue’s Joe Weiler, a junior from Bloomington, Ind. who blitzed the Tamuquan layout with rounds of 67 and 66 in Monday’s double round.

   Norrman closed with a 3-under 69, the birdie at the last leaving him with a 13-under 203 total, one shot clear of Oklahoma State’s Eugenio Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain whose final-round 68 left him alone in second place at 12-under 204.

   The Europeans seemed to find Tamuquan to their liking as South Florida sophomore Albin Bergstrom, Norrman’s fellow Swede, finished alone in third place at 9-under 207, three shots behind Chacarra. Bergstrom added a 1-under 71 to his solid opening round of 5-under 67 in Monday’s double round. He closed with a 3-under 69.

   Weiler cooled off with a final-round 75 and was joined by three other players in a tie for fourth place at 8-under 208, a shot behind Bergstrom.

   Also landing on 208 were North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik, a freshman from Trinity, Fla., Liberty’s Kieran Vincent, a redshirt junior from Zimbabwe and Virginia’s George Duangmanee, a freshman from Fairfax, Va.

   Gabrelcik made the biggest move in the final round, firing the low round of the day with a 5-under 67. Vincent closed with a 3-under 69. Duangmanee was very much in the hunt for the individual title when he went 67-69 in Monday’s double round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Liberty is so good that junior Zach Barbin, the oldest of the golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md, didn’t make the first five for the Flames. Liberty did bring Barbin along to compete as an individual and he finished among the group tied for 60^th place at 8-over 224. Barbin opened with a 1-under 71 before falling back with rounds of 77 and 76.

   All Barbin did last summer was win two of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships, capturing the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Lancaster Country Club and the Patterson Cup in a four-hole aggregate playoff with a couple of GAP heavyweights in Jeff Osberg and Gregor Orlando at The 1912 Club.

   Notre Dame was led by Davis Chatfield, a senior from Attleboro, Mass. who bettered par in all three rounds and finished in the group tied for 12^th place at 5-under 211. Chatfield, who reached the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes, opened with a 3-under 69 and added a pair of 1-under 71s.

   Sophomore Palmer Jackson, winner of the PIAA Class AAA crown at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in 2018 as a senior at Franklin Regional, closed with a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 26^th place with a 1-under 215 total for the Fighting Irish. Jackson, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst before ever hitting a shot at Notre Dame, got off to a solid start with a 2-under 70 and a 1-under 71 in Monday’s double round.