Penn State's women's team has hit the ground running in first month of new season

    The Penn State women’s golf team was unable to compete in the fall of 2020 as the still-raging coronavirus pandemic convinced the Big Ten to keep its players off the golf course.

   It certainly didn’t help the development of head coach Denise St. Pierre’s relatively young team. Still, the Nittany Lions finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Championship in the spring at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio, their best finish since 2014.

   Not sure how any of that played in Penn State’s schedule to kick off the 2021-2022 season, but the Nittany Lions have already played in three tournaments and left this golf blogger playing catch-up. I completely missed the Nittany Lion Invitational, which was played Labor Day weekend with Penn State opening its season with a solid 12-shot victory in an event it has traditionally played well in.

   That was followed by a bit of a disappointing 13^th-place finish in a strong 17-team field that gathered at the Yeamans Hall Golf Club in Hanahan, S.C. near Charleston for the Cougar Classic Sept. 13^th and 14^th.

   Penn State wrapped up its season-opening series of three tournaments with a fourth-place finish in the Boston College Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at Blue Hill Country Club in Canton, Mass. I’ll take a look back at all three events, starting with the most recent first.

   Penn State’s best player has been Mathilda Delavallade, a junior from France who finished in a tie for fifth place in the Boston College Intercollegiate with a 5-over 221 total. Delvallade, who captured the individual title in the season-opening Nittany Lion Invitational, matched par over the 6,137-yard, par-72 Blue Hill layout in the opening round of Monday’s double round, but struggled to a 79 in the afternoon before closing with a solid 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final round.

   The title went to Yale, which was playing in its first tournament in 17 months, the Ivy League shutting down its athletic programs for the entire 2020-2021 academic year. Seemed a bit excessive, particularly in a sport like golf, but people at Yale are smarter than me, right?

   The Elis, behind junior Ami Gianchandani, a product of The Pingry School who won the individual title, opened with the best team round of the tournament, a 1-over 289. They struggled to a 300 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 7-over 295 that left Yale with a 20-over 884 total, three shots better than host Boston College.

   The host Eagles, playing out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, opened with solid rounds of 298 and 299 in Monday’s double round before finishing up with a 2-over 290 that gave them a 23-over 887 total.

   Boston University, a Patriot League entry, was 12 shots behind its cross-town rival in third place with a 35-over 299 total. After opening with a 297, the Terriers added a 300 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 302.

   Penn State was four shots behind BU in fourth place as the Nittany Lions opened with a solid 8-over 296, but struggled to a 305 in Monday afternoon’s second round and a 302 in the final round for a 39-over 903 total.

   Columbia, another Ivy League team which was playing in its first tournament since February of 2020, finished a shot behind Penn State in fifth place in the 15-team field with a 40-over 904 total. The Lions sandwiched a 10-over 298 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 303s.

   Pretty sure Gianchandani is the only Ivy League golfer who owns a match win over an LPGA major champion as she stunned Patty Tavatanakit, 1-up, in the round of 16 in the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo. Tavatanakit won the first LPGA major of 2021, the ANA Inspiration.

   Gianchandani had the best individual round of the tournament, a 4-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 73. She closed with a 3-over 75 to finish with an even-par 216 total, four shots better than teammate Alexis Kim, a freshman from Irvine, Calif., and Boston University’s Hanako Kawasaki, a senior from Vietnam, and Flair Kuan, a sophomore from China.

   Kim opened with a 1-under 71 before struggling to a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second round. She closed with a 1-over 73 to get her share of second place individually. It was the best round of the day for the Elis and helped then nail down the team crown.

   Sophie Simon, a freshman from Potomac, Md., like Kim, was making her college debut for Yale and finished in a tie for 10^th place in the individual standings with an 8-over 224 total. Simon had Yale’s best score of the opening round, a 2-under 70, but struggled in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 79 before closing with a 75.

   Coco Chai, a junior from China, matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish in the group tied for 13^th place with a 10-over 226 total. Chai contributed a 3-over 75 to Yale’s fast start in the opening round, but struggled to a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   Rounding out the Yale lineup was Kaitlyn Lee, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y. who finished alone in 25^th place at 229. Lee added a final-round 75 to the pair of 77s she carded in Monday’s double round. Both her 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round and her final-round 75 were counters.

   BU’s Kawasaki sandwiched a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to join Yale’s Kim and her teammate Kuan in the tie for second place at 4-over 220. Kuan added a solid 1-under 71 to her opening-round 73 before finishing up with a 76.

   Joining Penn State’s Delavallade in a tie for fifth place at 221 was Boston College’s Bibilani Liu, a graduate student from Cupertino, Calif. Liu struggled a little in the opening round with a 79, but added a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before surging up the leaderboard with the best score of the day in Tuesday’s final round, a 3-under 69.

   Backing up Delavallade for Penn State were Sarah Willis, the Nittany Lions’ senior leader from Eaton, Ohio, and Drew Nienhaus, a freshman from St. Louis, both of whom finished among the group tied for 16^th place at 227. Willis, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten Championship last spring at TPC River’s Bend, opened with a solid 1-over 73, but struggled in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 76 and in Tuesday’s final round with a 78. Nienhaus added a 78 to her opening-round 75 before closing with a solid 2-over 74.

   Ishna Dhruva, a junior from Katy, Texas, matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 76, but struggled to an 82 in Tuesday’s final round to join the group tied for 26^th place at 230.

   Rounding out the starting lineup for Penn State was Victoria Tip-Aucha, a sophomore from Vienna, Va. via Thailand who had a solid freshman spring. Tip-Aucha, however, was not at her best at Blue Hill as she added a pair of 80s in the final two rounds after opening with a 79 to end up alone in 47^th place at 239.

   Maria Beatriz Arizaga, a sophomore from Ecuador, teed it up in the Boston College Intercollegiate as an individual and sandwiched an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 81s to finish alone in 35^th place with a 233 total.

   Monmouth was also making its season debut in the Boston College Intercollegiate and the Hawks finished in 10^th place with a 947 total. Junior Liddie McCook, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a junior at Downingtown East, finished in the group tied for 64^th place with a 248 total. McCook bounced back from an opening-round 83 with a 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round, but couldn’t get it going in Tuesday’s final round, struggling to an 88.

   St. Pierre knew she was throwing her team into the deep end a week earlier in the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall and the Nittany Lions didn’t play poorly, but the stiff competition left them in 13^th place.

   Penn State opened with a 3-over 291 and added a 293 in the second round before closing with an 8-over 296 that left them in 13^th place with a 16-over 880 total.

   Southeastern Conference power Arkansas went toe-to-toe with Big 12 power Baylor and the Razorbacks came out with a one-shot victory over the Bears.

   Both had ultimately disappointing springs as Arkansas couldn’t get out of the Louisville Regional while Baylor, which was probably the best team in college golf early in the spring portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season, advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. off its seeding out of the rained-out Baton Rouge Regional, but failed to get into match play.

   The Penn State women got a chance to hear about an historic individual effort by Arkansas’ Brooke Matthews, a redshirt senior from Rogers, Ark. who won the individual title with an astounding 25-under 191 total over the 6,301-yard, par-72 Yeamans Hall layout. It was believed to be an NCAA record in relation to par, way better than the 19-under total registered by Ohio State’s Jaclyn Lee in 2018.

   It shattered the Arkansas record and the Razorbacks have a pretty storied tradition. Matthews’ 25-under total was nine shots clear of the Arkansas record set by Maria Fassi in the Mason Rudolph Challenge during the 2017-’18 season.

   Matthews was part of a United States team that rallied from an early deficit to claim a 12.5-7.5 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in last month’s Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. I have to believe that gave an already talented player a jolt of confidence.

   How else would you explain an opening-round 63 followed by a pair of 64s? Matthews has moved up to No. 22 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) with that performance.

   And Arkansas needed every bit of Matthews’ magic to outlast Baylor. The Razorbacks opened with a 4-under 284 and added a 7-under 281 before closing with a sizzling 12-under 276 for a 23-under 841 total. Baylor was right on the Razorbacks’ heels the whole way as the Bears opened with a 3-under 285 and added a 5-under 283 before bettering Arkansas’ scorching finish with a 14-under 274 that left them a shot short at 22-under 842.

   Backing up Matthews for Arkansas was Julia Gregg, a junior from Farmer’s Branch, Texas who finished in a tie for sixth place with a 6-under 210. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Gregg carded a 2-under 70 in the second round before contributing a 4-under 68 to the Razorbacks’ final-round surge.

   Kajal Mistry, a sophomore from South Africa, bounced back from an opening-round 75 with a 1-under 71 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 69 to finish in a tie for 19^th place with a 1-under 215 total.

   Miriam Ayora, a sophomore from Spain, added a 77 to her opening-round 74 before closing with a solid 1-under 71 to end up among the group tied for 79^th place at 227. Rounding out the Arkansas lineup was Fifon Tynan, a freshman from Wales who landed in the group tied for 83^rd place at 228 as she added a 76 to her opening-round 77 before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Matthews’ performance was so overwhelming that runnerup Krista Junkkari, a junior at North Carolina from Finland, broke one of the Tar Heels’ program records and matched a couple others with her 12-under 204 showing, but finished 13 shots behind Matthews.

   Junkkari found herself trailing Matthews by five shots despite adding a 67 to her opening round of 7-under 65, a program record for an individual round. She matched par with a 72 in the final round to finish 12-under. Her 204 total and her score in relation to par tied program records established by Kelly Whaley at Briar’s Creek in 2017.

   North Carolina, under first-year head coach Aimee Neff, who replaced Jan Mann this season, finished in a tie for fifth place  ith a 3-under 861 total.

   Georgia’s Jenny Bae, a senior from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 71 in the Women’s WAGR, finished in third place in the individual standings with an 8-under 208 total, four shots behind Junkkari. Bae added a 68 to her opening round of 5-under 67 before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Penn State was led by Willis, who held her own in the strong field, adding a pair of 1-under 71s to her opening-round 74 to finish among the group tied for 24^th place at even-par 216. Delavallade opened with a 1-under 71, but fell back with a 75 in the second round and closed with a 73 to end up among the group tied for 36^th place at 3-over 219.

   Dhruva added a 1-under 71 to her opening-round 73 before closing with a 77 that left her among the group tied for 51^st place with a 5-over 221 total.

   Nienhaus opened with a solid 1-over 73 and added a 76 in the second round before closing with a 75 to finish in the group tied for 66^th place at 224. Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Tip-Aucha, who added a pair of 77s to her opening-round 78 to land in the group tied for 90^th place at 232.

   Delavallade had opened the season with her first collegiate victory in the 41^st Nittany Lion Invitational, which was played at the White Course as the event celebrated 100 years of Penn State golf.

   Delavallade blitzed the 6,115-yard, par-72 White Course as she opened with a 3-three under 69 and a 4-under 68 in a double round the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and came back with another 3-under 69 in the final round for a 10-under 206 total that left her one shot shy of the tournament record established by her teammate Willis in 2018.

   Delavallade led the Nittany Lions to the team crown as they added a 7-under 281 to their opening round of 2-under 286 before closing with a 4-under 284 for a 13-under 851 total. It was a program record for a 54-hole tournament and bettered Penn State’s previous best total in the Nittany Lion Invitational of 862 established in 2012 by 11 shots.

   Delaware, out of the Colonial Athletic Association, was the runnerup with a 1-under 863 total that left the Blue Hens 12 shots behind the host Nittany Lions. Led by Oihana Etxezarreta, a sophomore from Spain who finished in a tie for second place, three shots behind Delavallade, Delaware opened with a 6-under 282, struggled a little in the second round with a 6-over 294 and closed with a 1-under 287.

   It was three years ago when Penn State’s Willis, then a freshman competing as an individual in the Nittany Lion Invitational, burst onto the scene with a remarkable eight-shot individual victory. She has rarely, if ever, been out of the St. Pierre’s starting lineup ever since.

   After matching par with a 72 in the opening round, Willis flashed her considerable talent, firing a 6-under 66, in the second round. She closed with a 2-over 74 to finish alone in fifth place with a 4-under 212 total.

   Tip-Aucha gave Penn State a third finisher among the top nine as she sandwiched a 1-over 73 in the second round with a pair of 1-under 71s to finish alone in ninth place with a 1-under 215 total.

   Dhruva closed with a solid 1-under 71 after posting a pair of 74s in the first two rounds as she finished among the group tied for 11^th place with a 3-over 219 total. Nienhaus, making her college debut in the starting lineup, finished in the group tied for 35^th place at 7-over 223 as she added a 76 to her opening-round 74 before closing with a 1-over 73.

   St. Pierre takes the opportunity of her home tournament to give most of her roster a chance to compete and six Nittany Lions competed as individuals in the Nittany Lion Invitational.

   Redshirt senior Taylor Waller, who starred scholastically at Canon-McMillan, finished in a tie for 30^th place as she sandwiched an even-par 72 in the second round with a pair of 75s for a 6-over 222 total. Beatriz Arizaga finished a shot behind Waller at 223 in the group tied for 35^th place as she added a 76 to her opening-round 74 before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Katie Scheck, a freshman from Greensboro, Ga., made quite a debut as she fired an opening round of 4-under 68. She cooled off with an 81 in the second round before closing with a 75 to finish in a tie for 40^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Senior Lauren Freyvogel, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Pine Richland, added a 74 to her opening-round 76 and closed with a 77 to finish among the group tied for 48^th place at 227.

   Last fall, Michelle Cox lost in a playoff in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort as a senior at Emmaus. Coz, who captured the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club in the summer, made her Penn State debut in the Nittany Lion Invitational. Cox struggled in the second round with an 81, but registered a pair of solid 2-over 74s in the first and final rounds to finish in the group tied for 60^th place at 229.

   Rounding out the Penn State contingent in the Nittany Lion Invitational was another debuting freshman, Jami Morris of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Morris got a little better with each round as she added a 79 to her opening-round 83 before closing with a 78 to finish among the group tied for 78^th place with a 240 total.

   Delaware’s Etxezarreta opened the Nittany Lion Invitational with the best individual round of the weekend, a sizzling 7-under 65. She cooled off with a 75 in the second round before closing with a solid 3-under 69 that gave her a share of second place in the individual chase with Princeton’s Victoria Liu, a freshman from Canada, at 7-under 209.

   Liu matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 4-under 68 in the second round before finishing up with a 3-under 69 that earned her a piece of second place at 7-under, three shots behind Delavallade. Like the rest of the Ivy League teams, it was Princeton’s first tournament after a long pandemic-enforced layout and the Tigers finished in third place with a 5-over 869 total that was six shots behind Delaware.

   The Blue Hens also got a solid showing from sophomore Christina Carroll, a product of William Penn High in Wilmington, Del., as she finished among the group tied for 30^th place with a 6-over 222 total. Carroll, a product of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, opened with a 1-under 71 and added a 77 in the second round before finishing up with a 74.

   Carroll qualified for last month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., the first Delaware player to ever earn a spot in the most important championship for amateur women golfers in the world.

   Penn had won the last playing of the Nittany Lion Invitational in the fall of 2019, but the Quakers struggled in their return to tournament action as they finished in 12^th place in the 14-team field with a 902 total.

   Penn was led by two players who were not involved in that Nittany Lion Invitational team title two years ago as Debby Chang, a sophomore from South Korea, and Natalie Cao, a freshman from Sugar Land, Texas, finished among the group tied for 44^th place at 10-over 226. Chang sandwiched a 76 in the second round with a pair of 75s while Cao matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 75 before struggling in the final round with a 79.

   A couple of veterans of that 2019 Nittany Lion Invitational championship team, Mary Shin, a senior from Irvine, Calif., and Susan Xiao, a junior from Canada, finished in the group tied for 48^th place with a 227 total. After opening with a 75, Shin posted a 1-over 73 in the second round before closing with a 78. Xiao got off to a great start with a 3-under 69 in the opening round, but struggled after that, registering a 77 in the second round and finishing up with an 81.

   Rounding out the Penn lineup was Abigail Wiranatha, a junior from West Covina, Calif. and another veteran of that 2019 Nittany Lion Invitational championship team. Waranatha opened with a solid 2-over 74, but struggled to an 82 in the second round before closing with a 79 as she finished in the group tied for 73^rd place with a 235 total.

   The Nittany Lion Invitational also marked the return to college golf for Georgetown senior Kaitlyn Lees, a three-time Inter-Ac League champion during her scholastic career at Agnes Irwin. Lees had started her college career at Dartmouth, but transferred to Georgetown after Dartmouth briefly shut down its men’s and women’s golf programs in the early months of the pandemic. It appears Dartmouth was able to revive its golf programs.

   Lees, making her debut with the Hoyas, added a 76 to her opening-round 75 before closing with a solid 2-over 74 as she finished in a tie for 42^nd place with a 9-over 225 total. Lees was a three-time winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship.