Florida State holds onto the lead by four after two rounds of Louisville Regional

    Atlantic Coast Conference runnerup Florida State held onto its lead after two rounds of the NCAA Louisville Regional at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville, Ky. Tuesday, but some of the heavyweights of women’s college golf were lined up behind the Seminoles.

   Winning a regional team crown is nice, but the ultimate goal at the regional is to finish among the top six and advance to the NCAA Championship later this month at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Florida State took a big step toward that goal as the Seminoles, seeded second in the regional and No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, added a 3-over 291 to their opening round of 2-under 286 over the 6,358-yard, par-71 University of Louisville layout for a 1-over 577 total.

   A couple of Southeastern Conference powers, South Carolina, the top seed in the regional and the No. 1 team in the country, and Arkansas, seeded fifth and ranked 17^th, moved into a tie for second place at 5-over 581, four shots behind Florida State. The Gamecocks added a 2-under 286 to their opening-round 295 while the Razorbacks had the best team round of the day, a 6-under 282, after opening with a 299 Monday.

   Host Louisville, seeded 12^th and ranked 40^th, remained very much in the hunt for a trip to the NCAA Championship as the Cardinals, an ACC rival of Florida State, were seven shots behind South Carolina and Arkansas in fourth place with a 6-over 582 total. Louisville added a 1-over 289 to its opening-round 283.

   Big 12 power Texas, seeded fourth and ranked 16^th, made its move with a 1-under 287, 10 shots better than its opening-round 297. Big Ten champion Michigan State held down sixth place, the Spartans, seeded eighth and ranked 32^nd, adding a 5-over 293 to their opening-round 292.

   Leading the way for a young Florida State team were its two juniors, Beatrice Wallin, a Swede who is No. 10 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Amelia Williamson of England, both of whom were part of a trio of players tied for third place at 3-under 140. Wallin added a 71 to her opening round of 69 while Williamson, who had grabbed the individual lead with her opening-round 68, matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 72.

   Florida State’s three freshmen backed up their teammates with showings solid enough to keep the Seminoles atop the team leaderboard.

   Alice Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y. carded her second straight 2-over 74 to join the group tied for 31^st place at 4-over 148. Charlotte Heath of England added a 76 to her opening-round 75 and landed among the group tied for 50^th place at 151. Taylor Roberts of Parkland, Fla. registered a counting 2-over 74 after opening with a 78 and was among the group tied for 62^nd place at 152.

   North Florida’s Christin Eisenbeiss, a freshman from Germany, matched the best round of the day, a 5-under 67, after opening with a 71 and took over the top spot in the individual chase with a 6-under 138 total.

   South Carolina’s Mathilde Claisse, a sophomore from France, was in second place, a shot behind Eisenbeiss with a 5-under 139 total after adding a 4-under 68 to her opening-round 71.

   UCLA’s Emma Spitz, a sophomore from Austria and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, joined the Florida State pair of Wallin and Williamson in the trio tied for third place at 4-under 140. Spitz matched the low round of the day with a 5-under 67 after opening with a 73.

   In the Columbus Regional, Georgia, a little bit of a sleeping giant in the tough SEC, moved into the lead as the 8ulldogs, seeded fifth and ranked 18^th, matched par with a 288 in difficult conditions at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course after opening with a 289 for a 1-over 577 total.

   Georgia was led by Jenny Bae, a junior from Suwanee, Ga. who overcame the wind with a 4-under 68 over the 6,358-yard, par-72 Scarlet Course layout to take over the individual lead with a 5-under 139 total. Bae had opened with a 71 Monday.

   Big Ten upstart Michigan, seeded seventh and ranked 26^th, remained very much in the hunt for a berth in the NCAA Championship as the Wolverines added an 8-over 296 to their opening-round 288 to stand seven shots behind Georgia in second place with an 8-over 584 total.

   Top-seeded Duke, ranked second, was another shot behind Michigan in third place with a 8-over 588 total, the Blue Devils adding a 298 to their opening-round 287. Duke won the last NCAA Championship contested when it defeated ACC rival Wake Forest, 3-2, in the Final Match of the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

   Mid-American Conference power Kent State, seeded fourth and ranked 15^th, was another four shots behind Duke in fourth place with a 589 total after adding a 298 to its opening-round 291. Pac-12 power Arizona State, seeded second and ranked seventh, was three shots behind Kent State in fifth place as the Sun Devils struggled to a 301 after opening with a 291 to land at 16-over 592.

   Kentucky, out of the SEC, was in sixth place, the Wildcats improving three shots from their opening-round 298 with a 7-over 295 that left them a shot behind Arizona State with a 17-over 593 total.

   Virginia, out of the ACC, heads into Wednesday’s final round on the outside looking in as the Cavaliers were two shots behind Kentucky in seventh place in the race to earn a ticket to the NCAA Championship. Virginia added a 299 to its opening-round 296 that left it at 19-over 525.

   Backing up Bae for Georgia was Isabella Holpfer, a freshman from Austria, who was three shots behind her teammate in third place in the individual standings after adding a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 72 for a 2-under 142 total.

   Candice Mahe, a sophomore from France, added a 3-over 75 to her opening-round 71 and was tied for 11^th place at 2-over 146. Caterina Don, a sophomore from Italy and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, contributed a 3-over 75 for the Bulldogs, which, combined with her opening-round 76, left her in the group tied for 34^th place at 151.

   Rounding out the Georgia lineup was Jo Hua Hung, a junior from Taipei who struggled to an 82 in Tuesday’s second round after opening with a 75 and landed among the group tied for 68^th place at 157.

   Michigan’s Monet Chan, a freshman from Canada, carded a second straight 2-under 70 that left her alone in second place in the individual standings a shot behind Bae with a 4-under 140 total. Kent State’s Caley McGinty, a sophomore from England, was a shot behind Georgia’s Holpfer in fourth place at 1-under 143 after adding a 73 to her opening-round 70.

   A couple of freshmen from Wilmington, Del., Duke’s Phoebe Brinker, an Archmere Academy product, and Virginia’s Jennifer Cleary, who starred at Tower Hill, had solid rounds at the Scarlet Course.

   Brinker contributed a 3-over 75 for the Blue Devils that left her in the group tied for 31^st place at 5-over 149. Cleary shaved nine shots off her opening-round 81 by matching par with a 72 for the Cavaliers and was in the group tied for 46^th place at 153.

   At the Stanford Regional, the host Cardinal, seeded fifth and ranked 20^th, are really on a roll as they added a 13-under 271 to their opening-round 272 to open up a 22-shot lead over the rest of the field with a 25-under 543 total.

   Stanford’s Angelina Ye, a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla. via China, and Rachel Heck, a freshman from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, shared the individual lead, each landing on 7-under 135.

   Ye, the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship winner at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., added a sparkling 5-under 66 over the 6,291-yard, par-71 Stanford Golf Course layout, to her opening-round 69. Heck, coming off a strong junior career herself, added a 67 to her opening-round 68.

   Virginia Tech, out of the ACC, stubbornly held onto second place as the Hokies added a 1-under 283 to their opening-round 282 that left them at 3-under 565, 22 shots behind Stanford.

   Virginia Tech’s ACC rival, Wake Forest, the top seed in the Stanford Regional and ranked third, creeped within a shot of the Hokies as the Demon Deacons added a 4-under 280 to their opening-round 286 that left them at 2-under 566.

   Big 12 champion Oklahoma State, seeded second and ranked sixth, was three shots behind Wake Forest in fourth place at 1-over 569 after adding a 2-under 282 to its opening-round 287. Pac-12 champion Southern California added a 1-under 283 to its opening-round 288 and was two shots behind the Cowgirls in fifth place with a 3-over 571 total.

   Florida, seeded seventh and ranked 27^th, put itself in position for a trip to the NCAA Championship as the Gators were six shots behind Southern Cal in sixth place at 9-over 577 after adding a 3-over 287 to their opening-round 290.

   Backing up the individual co-leaders for Stanford was Brooke Seay, a sophomore from San Diego, who was just a shot behind her teammates, Ye and Heck, in a tie for third place at 6-under 136. It always seemed like just a matter of time before Seay, another star in the junior ranks, round her footing on the college level. She carded a second straight 68 Tuesday.

   Sadie Englemann, a freshman from Austin, Texas, had grabbed a share of the opening-round lead with a 67. She cooled off a little with a 1-under 70, but still gave the Cardinal four players inside the top five in the individual standings as she was in a tie for fifth place with Northwestern’s Irene Kim, a sophomore from La Palma, Calif. and No. 72 in the Women’s WAGR, at 5-under 137.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Aline Krauter, a junior from Germany and No. 52 in the Women’s WAGR who was in the group tied for 29^th place at 2-over 144. Krauter, winner of The Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at West Lancashire, added a 73 to her opening-round 71.

   Joining Stanford’s Seay in the tie for third place, a shot behind the individual co-leaders at 6-under, was Oklahoma State’s Maja Stark, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR. Stark was tied for the lead after an opening-round 67 and added a solid 2-under 69.

   Kim was the third player with a share of the opening-round lead with a 67. She carded a 1-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round to join Englemann at 5-under.

   The Baton Rouge Regional was still unable to get started as heavy rains continued to inundate the University Club at  LSU. The LSU website indicated that, by NCAA regulations, the regional had to be completed by Wednesday, but with rain still in the area early Wednesday morning, that regulation might have to be adjusted.