Another impressive victory for Oregon in Northrop Grumman Challenge; Wake Forest's Kuehn claims individual crown

    Just when you thought the Pac-12 couldn’t get any stronger, here comes Oregon.

   The Ducks were on the way up a year ago. They finished in a tie for fifth place with UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship at the Stanford Golf Course behind the traditional powers, conference champion Southern California, Stanford, Arizona State and Arizona.

   Oregon then advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., benefitting from its No. 4 seed at the ill-fated Baton Rouge Regional as persistent rains wiped out the tournament with the top six seeds advancing to nationals without ever hitting a shot.

   Don’t look now, but Oregon recently rose to No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings and the Ducks solidified that ranking with a seven-shot victory in the Northrup Grumman Challenge, one of the biggest tournaments in women’s college golf, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

   It was the second straight tournament victory for Oregon, which rose to No. 2 in the rankings in the aftermath of its win in the Florida State Match Up at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla. It was also the third tournament win of the wraparound 2021-2022 season for the Ducks.

   Oregon’s victory in the Northrop Grumman was a case of quality depth as they had four players finish among the top eight with its fifth finisher ending up in a tie for 12^th place.

   The Ducks opened with a 3-over-par 287 over the 6,017-yard, par-71 Palos Verdes layout, took control of the top spot with a 5-under 279 in Monday’s second round and closed with a solid 2-under 282 that gave them a 4-under 848 total. Oregon was the only team in the talent-laden field to finish under par.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Wake Forest, behind individual champion Rachel Kuehn, a junior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, was the runnerup with a 3-over 855 total. The Demon Deacons opened with an 8-over 292 and added a 4-under 280 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 283.

   Wake Forest moved up a spot from No. 5 to No. 4 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Northrop Grumman. The Demon Deacons were coming off consecutive team crowns in the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. and in another of the marquee spring events in women’s college golf, the Darius Rucker Invitational at the Long Cove Club’s Pete Dye Course on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

   Wake Forest’s ACC rival Virginia finished nine shots behind the Demon Deacons in third place with a 12-over 864 total. The Cavaliers, getting a runnerup finish from Beth Lillie, a graduate student from Fullerton, Calif. and No. 93 in the Women’s WAGR, added a 4-under 280 in Monday’s second round to their opening-round 287 and trailed Oregon by a shot going into Tuesday’s final round.

   Virginia struggled a little in the final round with a 13-over 297. Somehow, Virginia dropped a spot from No. 6 to No. 7 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Northrop Grumman.

   Pac-12 power Arizona State finished a shot behind Virginia in fourth place with a 13-over 865 total. After opening with a 291, the Sun Devils matched par in Monday’s second round with a 284 before finishing up with a 6-over 290. Arizona State’s showing at Palos Verdes moved it up to No. 9 from No. 12 in the Golfstat rankings.

   Big 12 power Texas was another eight shots behind Arizona State in fifth place with a 21-over 873 total. The Longhorns bounced back from an opening-round 297 with a 290 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with their best round of the week, a 2-over 286. Texas dropped a spot from No. 10 to No. 11 in the Golfstat rankings following their solid showing in the Northrop Grumman.

   It is a much different Southern California team than the one that won the Pac-12 title last spring, but the Trojans don’t rebuild, they reload. Southern Cal finished two shots behind Texas in sixth place in the loaded 16-team field with a 23-over 875 total.

   Southern Cal opened with a 295 and added a solid 3-over 287 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 9-over 293. The Trojans started and finished the week at No. 13 in the Golfstat rankings. They were coming off consecutive team crowns in the ICON Invitational at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas and in The Gold Rush at Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach, Calif.

   The Big East’s Georgetown was in over its head a little and finished last of the 16 teams with an 85-over 937 total. The Hoyas bounced back from an opening-round 321 with a solid 18-over 302 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 317.

   But it was a pretty well-deserved trip after two years of coronavirus pandemic restrictions, especially for somebody like Kaitlyn Lees, the former Agnes Irwin standout and a three-time Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship winner who started her career at Dartmouth, saw the school drop the program in response to the onset of the pandemic (pretty sure some well-heeled alumni came to the rescue and restored golf at Dartmouth) and never played last season after transferring to Georgetown, which really only teed it up in the Big East Championship at the conclusion of the 2020-’21 season.

   More on a couple of the Hoyas, including Lees, later.

   Oregon, meanwhile, has a little bit of a Taiwan connection going with three of its five starters from the island nation.

   Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu, a sophomore from Taiwan and No. 38 in the women’s WAGR, and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, a junior from Denmark, led the way for the Ducks as they shared fourth place, each landing on 1-under 212. The pair had identical splits, each sandwiching a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round with a pair of even-par 71s.

   Briana Chacon, a junior from Whittier, Calif., was two shots behind her teammates in a tie for sixth place with a 1-over 214 total as she sandwiched a 74 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 70s.

   Ching-Tzu Chen, a junior from Taiwan, gave the Ducks a fourth finisher among the top eight as she was a shot behind Chacon in a tie for eighth place with a 2-over 215 total. Chen struggled a little in the opening round with a 75, but bounced right back with a 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Rounding out the Oregon lineup was Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, a senior from Taiwan who finished among the group tied for 12^th place with a 4-over 217. Lin struggled in the opening round with a 77, but rebounded with a pair of 1-under 70s in each of the last two rounds.

   All five players in head coach Derek Radley’s lineup shot either even-par or 1-under in the final round with some of the most powerful women’s golf programs in America breathing down their necks. That’s pretty strong.

   Speaking of strong, Wake Forest’s Kuehn put together back-to-back 4-under 67s in the first two rounds to take command of the individual chase and then closed with a 2-under 69 for a 10-under 203 total that was five shots clear of the talented field.

   Kuehn went 3-1 in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales, getting the clinching point as the United States retained the Cup with a 12.5-7.5 victory over Great Britain & Ireland.

   If she maintains her lofty spot in the Women’s WAGR, Kuehn will likely become an automatic pick for the U.S. team for the 42^nd Curtis Cup Match, which tees off in 85 days at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township. The quick turnaround for the Curtis Cup Match is due to, what else, the pandemic, which forced the event to be postponed in 2020 and rescheduled for 2021.

   After matching par in the first round with a 71, Virginia’s Lillie carded a solid 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 68 as she finished five shots behind Kuehn in second place.

   Arizona State’s Alexandra Forsterling, a senior from Germany and No. 28 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled in the opening round with a 75, but matched the low round of the week in each of the last two rounds with back-to-back 4-under 67s as she finished a shot behind Lillie in third place with a 4-under 209.

   Forsterling was coming off another strong showing the Darius Rucker at Hilton Head as she finished in a tie for sixth place.

   Backing up Lillie for Virginia was sophomore Jennifer Cleary, the product of Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del. who has been a consistent performer for the Cavaliers. After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Cleary, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, registered a solid 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 74 to share sixth place with Oregon’s Chacon at 1-over 214.

   Joining Oregon’s Chen in the tie for eighth place at 2-over 215 was Southern California’s freshman phenom Amari Avery of Riverside, Calif. After struggling to a 76 in the opening round, Avery bounced back with a 3-under 68 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   If it seems like Avery has been around forever, it’s because she was one of the kids featured in “The Short Game,” a documentary produced by Hollywood power couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel that followed some of the youngsters who teed it up in the 2012 U.S. Kids Golf World Championships.

   Avery joined the Southern Cal program in January and made an immediate impact, winning her first individual crown in her second college start at the ICON Invitational and coming right back with another individual victory in The Gold Rush. This kid means business.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Northrop Grumman were Texas’ Sara Kouskova, a senior from the Czech Republic and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR, and Forsterling’s Arizona State teammate, Calynne Rosholt, a freshman from Cedar Park, Texas, both of whom landed on 3-over 216.

   Kouskova carded back-to-back 74s in the first two rounds before surging up the leaderboard on the strength of 3-under 68 in the final round. Rosholt rattled off three straight 1-over 72s. Like Forsterling, Rosholt had a strong showing in the Darius Rucker at Hilton Head, finishing in a tie for third place.

   Reigning ACC champion Duke finished in a tie for eighth place with a 27-over 879 total. The Blue Devils were led by sophomore Phoebe Brinker, who starred scholastically at Archmere Academy. After opening with a 1-over 72, Brinker carded a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before falling back a little in the final round with a 76 to end up in the group tied for 18^th place at 5-over 218.

   Brinker was outstanding in a truncated freshman season a year ago as the ACC didn’t allow its golfers to compete in the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-’21 season. Brinker capped a spectacular spring by finishing in a tie for fifth place in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk and helping Duke reach the semifinals in match play.

   Duke freshman Rylie Heflin, another former Tower Hill standout who is a native of Avondale, just across the Delaware border in Chester County, has been thrown into the deep end for the Blue Devils with the loss of Gina Kim to the professional ranks during college golf’s midseason pause.

   Heflin was solid in the first two rounds, adding a 74 in Monday’s second round to her opening round of 1-over 72. But she struggled in the final round with an 82 that left her among the group tied for 60^th place at 228.

   Another freshman in that group at 228 was Vanderbilt’s Natasha Kiel, a New Hope native who starred scholastically at the George School before finishing up her high school career at the Montverde Academy in Florida. Kiel sandwiched a 3-over 74 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 77s.

   Georgetown’s Lees, a three-time Inter-Ac League champion at Agnes Irwin, struggled to an 82 in the opening round, bounced back with a 5-over 76 in Monday’s second round and closed with an 80 to finish in a tie for 79^th place with a 238 total.

   Lees’ teammate, junior Esther Park, a Charter School of Wilmington product, finished alone in 82^nd place with a 244 total as she shaved 10 shots from an opening-round 86 with a 76 in Monday’s second round before closing with an 80.

   Hopefully, Park had time for a little reunion with Virginia’s Cleary and Duke’s Brinker at the Northrop Grumman.

   They were kids, Park and Cleary were 16 and Brinker just 15, in the fall of 2017 when they comprised a Delaware team that finished second in the final edition of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship at the Sunrise Course at The Club at Los Campanas in Santa Fe, N.M.

   Brinker finished second in the overall individual standings behind two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Julia Potter-Bobb.

   It had to be a defining moment for a trio of teenagers playing on a national stage far from home. They embraced the challenge and, from what I can tell, continue to show that kind of attitude as young women nearly five years later.