McGinty captures individual title, leads Kent State to team crown in Clemson Invitational

    When Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, took over the Kent State program in the fall of 2019, she had a ready-made national contender with a nice mix of veterans and youngsters.

   The Golden Flashes proceeded to win three tournaments and finish second in a fourth that fall and added another tournament title early in the spring portion of the ill-fated 2019-2020 season. They were ranked No. 6 by Golfstat when the college golf season was suddenly terminated by the coronavirus pandemic.

   Like many schools, there was no fall portion of the 2020-’21 season for Kent State, either. But Kent State looked like it had found its groove this past weekend as the Golden Flashes, No. 25 in the latest Golfstat rankings, earned a 10-shot victory over a bunch of pursuers from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten with a closing 12-under-par 276 that earned them the team title in the Clemson Invitational, which wrapped up with just a few holes Sunday at The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, S.C.

   The event was originally scheduled to be 18 holes Friday, Saturday and Sunday but with weather headed their way, tournament organizers tried to wrap up the event in two days with teams playing 27 holes Friday and 27 more Saturday. They didn’t quite get finished by Saturday afternoon, although Kent State had taken control and had only five holes to finish up Sunday morning.

   Kent State was the only team to better par in the opening round with a 4-under 284 over the 6,471-yard, par-72 Reserve at Lake Keowee layout. When the second round was completed Saturday morning, Kent State had added a 4-over 292 and held a one-shot lead over No. 22 Maryland out of the Big Ten.

   The Golden Flashes’ final-round 276 was easily the best team round of the weekend and left them with a 12-under 852 total. No. 19 Virginia Tech, out of the ACC, closed with a solid 7-under 281 to earn runnerup honors with a 2-under 862 total.

   Strom lost two mainstays of the Kent State program as Pimnipa Panthong chose to take the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the pandemic at South Carolina, where she shows up in the starting lineup for the No. 1 Gamecocks, and Karoline Stormo, who moved on to the professional ranks.

   But Caley McGinty, a sophomore from England, showed signs that she could be a top-of-the-lineup player as a freshman and her talent was on display over the weekend at Lake Keowee. McGinty opened with the best round of the weekend, a sparkling 6-under 66, fell back a little with a 1-over 73 in a second round that started Friday and was completed Saturday and then finished up with a 5-under 67 to cruise to the individual total by four shots with a 10-under 206 total.

   It was the second career win for McGinty, who is on a Royal & Ancient list of 17 candidates for the Great Britain & Ireland team that will take on the United States in the Curtis Cup Match, rescheduled from 2020, which will be held in August at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. McGinty’s opening-round 66 was a career best and she had seven birdies on her scorecard in the final round as she nailed down the individual title and led Kent State to the team crown.

   Virginia Tech had struggled in the opening round with an 8-over 296, but bounced back with a 3-under 285 in the second round. The Hokies finished strong to take second place.

   Maryland only trailed Kent State by three after opening with a 1-under 287 and the Terrapins’ 2-over 290 in the second round enabled them to creep within a shot of the Golden Flashes heading into the final round. Maryland matched par in the final round with a 288 to finish three shots behind Virginia Tech in third place with a 1-over 865 total.

   Host Clemson, another ACC entry ranked 32^nd, finished two shots behind Maryland with a 3-over 867 total. The Tigers opened with a 4-over 292 and added a 1-under 287 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   No. 46 Illinois, Maryland’s Big Ten rival, was four shots behind Clemson in fifth place with a 7-over 871 total. The Fighting Illini got better as the weekend wore on, adding a 4-over 292 to their opening-round 296 and closing with a 5-under 283.

   The highest-ranked team in the field was No. 8 Virginia out of the ACC. The Cavaliers, however, struggled in the opening round with a 306. They shaved 16 shots off that performance with a 2-over 290 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 285 that enabled them to finish alone in sixth place with a 17-over 881 total, 10 shots behind Illinois.

   A big reason for Virginia’s lofty ranking has been the play of freshman Jennifer Cleary, a Tower Hill product. The Wilmington, Del. native had the highest individual finish for the Cavaliers at Lake Keowee as she bounced back from an opening-round 76 by matching par in the second round with a 72 and finishing up with a 2-under 70 that left her alone in 13^th place in the individual chase with a 2-over 218 total.

   Perennial Big Ten power Purdue, ranked 39^th, and No. 83 Kansas, out of the Big 12, shared seventh place in the 18-team field as they finished another seven shots behind Virginia at 24-over 888. The Boilermakers added a 300 to their opening-round 297 before closing with a solid 3-over 291. After opening with a 304, the Jayhawks put together solid rounds of 5-over 293 and 3-over 291 in the second and third rounds, respectively.

   Backing up McGinty for Kent State was Kory Nielsen, a senior home girl from Kent, Ohio who contributed a 4-under 68 to the Golden Flashes’ final-round surge that enabled her to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 3-under 213 total. Nielsen had opened with a 74 before adding a 1-under 71 in the second round.

   Chloe Salort, a senior from France, gave Kent State a third finisher among the top nine as she sandwiched a 75 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s to end up in a tie for ninth place at 1-under 215.

   Graduate student Marissa Kirkwood, a three-time PIAA Class AA qualifier at Neshanock, closed with a solid 1-under 71 to finish among the group tied for 33^rd place at 5-over 221. Kirkwood, who reached the second round of match play in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., had posted a pair of 75s in the first two rounds at Lake Keowee.

   Rounding out the Kent State lineup was Mayka Hoogeboom, a freshman from the Netherlands who landed among the group tied for 36^th place at 6-over 222. Hoogeboom’s first two rounds of 74 and 73 were both counters for the Golden Flashes and she finished up with a 75.

   Maryland’s Virunpat Olankitkunchai, a senior from Thailand, sandwiched a 4-under 68 in the second round with a pair of 71s to earn runnerup honors in the individual standings with a 6-under 210 total that left her four shots behind McGinty.

   Illinois’ Tristyn Nowlin, a senior from Richmond, Ky., and host Clemson’s Savannah Grewal, a sophomore from Canada, finished a shot behind Olankitkunchai in a tie for third place, each landing on 5-under 211. Nowlin opened with a 70 and matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a 3-under 69. Grewal sandwiched a sparkling 5-under 67 in the second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Joining Kent State’s Nielsen in a tie for fifth place at 3-under 213 was Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar, a senior from Australia who added a pair of 2-under 70s to her opening-round 73.

   Olankitkunchai’s Maryland teammate, Laura Van Respaille, a senior from France, and Michigan State’s Valery Plata, a junior from Colombia, finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 2-under 214. Van Respaille added a 73 to her opening-round 71 before closing with a 2-under 70. Plata, who made a determined run to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont last summer, matched par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s after opening with a 2-under 70.

   Joining Kent State’s Salort in a tie for ninth place at 1-under 215 was Mahar’s Virginia Tech teammate, Keera Foocharoen, a junior from Thailand. After opening with a 74, Foocharoen added a 2-under 70 in the second round before closing with a 71.

   Louisville’s Lauren Hartlage, a graduate student from Elizabethtown, Ky., finished a shot behind Salort and Foocharoen in 11^th place at even-par 213. After opening with a 1-under 71, Hartlage matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 73.

   Nowlin’s Illinois teammate, Isabel Sly, a freshman from San Gabriel, Calif., closed with a 3-under 69 to finish a shot behind Hartlage in 12^th place at 1-over 217. Sly had posted a pair of 74s in the first two rounds.

    Hartlage was one of a dozen American players who gathered at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in late January in a practice session for candidates for the team that will represent the U.S. in that Curtis Cup Match against GB&I in Wales in August. Another member of that Lake Nona dozen who teed it up at Lake Keowee over the weekend was Ohio State’s Aneka Seumanutafa, a sophomore from Emmitsburg, Md. who finished among the group tied for 24^th place at 4-over 220.