Roussin-Bouchard captures individual title, helps South Carolina claim team crown in Valspar Augusta Invitational

    You bring together four of the top five teams in the latest Golfstat rankings, three of them from the same conference, and you get … fireworks.

   South Carolina, ranked third, went toe-to-toe with No. 2 Duke for two days and the Gamecocks, behind a 1-2 finish in the individual standings, were a little bit better, edging the Blue Demons by three shots to capture the team title in the Valspar Augusta Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday at Forest Hills Golf Club.

   Many players in this field will be right back in Augusta in a little over two weeks for the second edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. The players who make the cut following 36 holes at the Champions Retreat Golf Club get to tee it up in final round Saturday, April 3 in one of the cathedrals of the game, Augusta National Golf Club, and with the golf course in championship condition for the Masters, which tees off the following Thursday.

   South Carolina, a Southeastern Conference power, trailed the Dookies, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, by a shot following a spectacular shootout between the two teams in Saturday’s double round. The Gamecocks opened with a 15-under-par 273 over the 6,249-yard, par-72 Forest Hills layout, tying the program record for an 18-hole round and setting a program record for best opening round. And they trailed another ACC entry, Florida State, ranked fifth, by three shots.

   South Carolina added a solid 9-under 279 in Saturday afternoon’s second round, but their 24-under 552 total was still a shot behind Duke, which added an 11-under 277 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to its opening round of 14-under 274.

   But South Carolina, getting a 5-under 67 from individual champion Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, a sophomore from France and No. 3 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), finished up with a 6-under 282 to end up three shots clear of Duke with a 30-under 834 total.

   Duke, getting a fairly spectacular showing from the Wilmington Kid, freshman Phoebe Brinker, an Archmere Academy product who shared second place with South Carolina’s Ana Pelaez, a fifth-year senior from Spain and No. 20 in the Women’s WAGR, finished up with a 2-under 286 and settled for runnerup honors with a 27-under 837 total.

   Florida State backed off a little after its opening round of 18-under 270 with a 3-under 285 in Saturday afternoon’s second round. The Seminoles closed with a 4-over 292 to finish 10 shots behind Duke in third place with a 17-under 847 total.

   Wake Forest, another ACC power, arrived at the Valspar Augusta Invitational ranked No. 1 and finished in fourth place, two shots behind Florida State at 15-under 849. The Demon Deacons opened with a 1-under 287, got it going with a 9-under 279 in Saturday afternoon’s second round and closed with a 5-under 283. Not bad, really, but still 15 shots behind South Carolina and 12 behind Duke.

   It’s been two years since Duke edged Wake Forest in the last NCAA Championship contested at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. South Carolina is in the SEC these days, but once upon a time was an ACC program as well and the Gamecocks are certainly aware of the powerful programs in neighboring North Carolina. Florida State, a fairly new addition to the ACC, keeps gaining on the traditional conference powers.

   There were two more ACC programs behind Wake Forest in fifth and sixth place, respectively, as No. 26 Virginia Tech was 13 shots behind the Demon Deacons in fifth at 2-under 562 and No. 7 Virginia was two more shots behind the Hokies in sixth in the loaded 16-team field at even-par 564. Virginia Tech got off to a fast start with a 9-under 279 and added a 4-over 292 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-over 291. Virginia opened with a 2-under 286 and added a 6-under 282 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before struggling in the final round with an 8-over 296.

   Roussin-Bouchard spent a long time atop the Women’s WAGR in late 2019 and for much of 2020. Unlike the ACC teams, the SEC played some golf in the fall and Roussin-Bouchard seems to be back in the form that made her the best amateur player on the planet.

   She had an efficient seven-birdie, no-bogey opening round for a 7-under 65 that left her a shot behind Brinker, whose opening salvo was a brilliant 8-under 64. Roussin-Bouchard put a nose in front of Brinker with a 3-under 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.. Roussin-Bouchard had eight more birdies on her scorecard in Sunday’s final round, offsetting a bogey and a double-bogey, for a 5-under 67 that gave her a 15-under 201 total and a five-shot victory over Brinker and Roussin-Bouchard’s teammate, Pelaez.

   Pelaez took up the NCAA on its offer of an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of her senior season being stolen by the coronavirus pandemic. She hung back in Europe during the fall, but played in some tournaments, finishing third against professional golfers in the Madrid Santander Golf Tour event.

   Pelaez was strong throughout at Forest Hills, adding a pair of 69s to the 4-under 68 she contributed to South Carolina’s blazing start in Saturday morning’s opening round as she caught Brinker for a piece of second place at 10-under 206.

   South Carolina got a huge boost from Paula Kirner a freshman from Germany who finished among the group tied for 17^th place at 1-under 215. Kirner matched par in the opening round and contributed a 4-under 68 in Saturday afternoon’s second round. She closed with a 3-over 75, but it was still a crucial final counter for the Gamecocks as they were trying to hold off Duke.

   Lois Kaye Go, a senior from the Philippines, is another veteran for the Gamecocks. She struggled to a throwout 76 in Saturday afternoon’s second round, but she contributed a 2-under 70 in the opening round earlier Saturday and closed with a clutch 1-under 71 in Sunday’s final round.

   South Carolina got a huge addition to its roster this year in the person of Pimnipa Panthong, a graduate student from Thailand and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR. Panthhong was an integral part of a Kent State program that was a perennial national championship contender during her four years there and decided to take her extra year of eligibility at South Carolina.

   Panthong struggled a little in the final round with a 77, but she opened with a 2-under 70 and added a counting 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round as she finished in the group tied for 37^th place at 4-over 220.

   I’m sure Kent State head coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, would attest to Panthong’s value. Strom was in her first year at the helm at Kent State and the Golden Flashes, with Panthong as their senior leader, got on a terrific roll in the fall and into the early part of the spring before the 2019-’20 season came to a premature end.

   Kent State, ranked 17^th, finished in a tie for 11^th place along with another ACC entry, No. 24 Louisville, at 18-over 882 in the Valspar Augusta Invitational. Strom’s Golden Flashes opened with a 294 and added a 2-over 290 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 10-over 298.

   Maybe Brinker is sneaking up on some people in the world of college golf, but anybody who pays attention to this blog is well aware what a good player she is. As I mentioned in a post earlier this season, Brinker stopped surprising me a long time ago. The kid finished in a tie for second place in qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

   The ACC wouldn’t allow Duke to compete in the fall, but when the season got off to a belated start for the Blue Devils, Brinker was clearly ready.

   She blitzed the Forest Hills layout in the opening round with eight birdies, including four in a row from the fifth to the eighth holes, with nary a bogey on her scorecard for a scintillating 8-under 64. Brinker cooled off a little in the final two rounds with a pair of 1-under 71s, but shared second place with South Carolina’s Pelaez at 10-under 206, five shots behind Roussin-Bouchard.

   Wake Forest’s Siyun Liu, a graduate student from China and No. 64 in the Women’s WAGR, and Florida State junior Beatrice Wallin, one of the many talented Swedes in Division I women’s golf and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, shared fourth place, each finishing a shot behind Briinker and Pelaez at 9-under 207.

   Liu opened with a 70 and added a 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 4-under 68. Walln contributed a 5-under 67 to the Seminoles’ blazing start and added 71 before closing with a 69.

   Two of the veterans of Duke’s 3-2 victory over Wake Forest in the Final Match at The Blessings in 2019 were among a trio of players tied for sixth place at 8-under 206 in the persons of Jaravee Boonchant, a senior from Thailand, and Gina Kim, a junior from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 55 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Boonchant’s win over Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, just a few weeks removed from an impressive victory in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, in 19 holes was probably the key point for the Blue Demons on their way to the program’s seventh national championship.

   Boonchant hadn’t been in the lineup for Duke in its first couple of tournaments, but she was at Forest Hills. After opening with a 71, Boonchant ripped off a 5-under 67 before closing with a 70. Kim was equally solid, adding a pair of 70s to her opening round of 4-under 68.

   A couple of weeks ago, it was Duke in first place, Wake Forest second and host South Carolina third in the Gamecock Intercollegiate at Columbia Country Club in Blythewood, S.C. Expect all three of them to still be around when the NCAA Championship commences at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in May. This was the weekend it all came to an end a year ago. This year, it’s just starting to take off.

   Joining Boonchant and Kim at 208 was Furman’s Anna Morgan, a sophomore from Spartanburg, S.C. who matched par in the opening round with a 72 and then added a 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before moving up the leaderboard Sunday with a final round of 5-under 67.

   Virginia’s Riley Smyth, a junior from Cary, N.C., was two shots behind the trio tied for sixth place as she finished alone in ninth place at 6-under 210. Smyth, who made a run to the quarterfinals in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont last summer, fired a 5-under 67 in Saturday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 70 before backing off a little in Sunday’s final round with a 73.

   Louisville’s Lauren Hartlage, a graduate student from Elizabethtown, Ky. and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR, rounded out the top 10 as she opened with a 4-under 68 and matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 71 for a 5-under 211 total.

   Hartlage came back for a fifth year at Louisville and is under consideration for the U.S. Curtis Cup team, which will take on Great Britain & Ireland at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales in August. The top-10 finish was the 22^nd of her career with the Cardinals, tying the program record.

   Brinker’s Wilmington friend and rival, Tower Hill product Jennifer Cleary, is having a pretty nice freshman season at Virginia. Cleary struggled in the final round at Forest Hills with an 80 that left her among the group tied for 64^th place at 10-over 226. But she contributed solid rounds of 74 and even-par 72 in Saturday’s double round for the Cavaliers.

   Strom’s Kent State team got a solid showing from graduate student Marissa Kirkwood, a three-time PIAA Class AA qualifier at Neshannock, including a third-place finish as a senior in 2015. Kirkwood opened with a 1-under 71 and struggled to a 78 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 74 to end up in the group tied for 50^th place at 7-over 223.

   Sophomore Olivia Patrow, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Stroudsburg, competed as an individual for host Augusta. After opening with a 78, Patrow struggled to an 81 in Saturday afternoon’s second round and an 87 in Sunday’s final round, finishing in 88^th place at 246.