Behind Rydqvist, Darling, South Carolina captures team crown in Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic

    South Carolina arrived near the end of the beginning Sunday appearing more than ready for the final legs of the journey.

   The Gamecocks, No. 4 in the latest Golfstat rankings, matched par in the final round of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic with a 288 in tough conditions on the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga. to claim an eight-shot victory over Southeastern Conference rival Texas A&M.

   It was the second straight team crown for South Carolina, which shared the title with SEC rival and reigning national champion Mississippi earlier this month in the Valspar Augusta Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

   The weather wasn’t good that weekend and Sunday’s final round was played in chilly temperatures and gusty winds, but a young South Carolina team, boosted by some talented players who transferred to Columbia, had the best round of the weekend on a 6,317-yard, par-72 layout University of Georgia layout that played very tough.

   Tough golf course and tough weather conditions equals perfect preparation for the postseason to come. The SEC Championship tees off April 13 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.

   The Liz Murphey has been one of the highlights of the spring season for a while now and this edition turned into a three-team race among South Carolina, No. 16 Texas A&M and Atlantic Coast Conference power Wake Forest, ranked third, when the dust cleared following Saturday’s second round.

   The Gamecocks had added a 3-over 291 in Saturday’s second round to their opening-round 295 to take a three-shot lead over the Aggies and the Demon Deacons into Sunday’s final round. Texas A&M and Wake Forest had shared the lead following the end of the opening round as each registered a solid 5-over 293 and both followed that up with an 8-over 296 that left them in a tie for second place.

   South Carolina’s solid even-par in the final round, the best team round of the weekend, left it with a 10-over 874 total. Texas A&M closed with its second 5-over 293 to finish in second place with an 18-over 882 total. Wake Forest fell back a little with a final-round 299 that left it six shots behind the Aggies in third place with a 24-over 888 total.

   Another perennial SEC power, No. 12 Alabama, behind individual champion Polly Mack, a fifth-year player from Germany and No. 77 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), finished six shots behind Wake Forest in fourth place with a 30-over 894 total. The Crimson Tide carded back-to-back 11-over 299s in the first two rounds before closing with an 8-over 296.

   Mack birdied the 17^th and 18^th holes in Sunday’s final round to complete one of just two sub-70 rounds recorded during the weekend, her 3-under 69 giving her a 3-under 213 total and a four-shot victory over the talented pair of Wake Forest’s Carolina Chacarra, a freshman from Spain and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, and Southern California’s Amari Avery, a freshman from Riverside, Calif. and No. 42 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Mack had opened with a 2-under 70 before cooling off with a 74 in Saturday’s second round.

   Host Georgia, ranked 11^th, entered two teams and its two teams finished in a tie for fifth place with Pac-12 power Southern California, each landing on 37-over 901. It is certainly a testament to the Bulldogs’ depth that they can have two teams finish ahead of nine teams in this talented 16-team field.

   There’s some big tournaments in Georgia in April. It won’t be the Masters or the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, but the Georgia women’s qualifier for the SEC Championship is going to be a doozy.

   Georgia’s top team posted back-to-back 301s in the first two rounds and led the B-teamers by seven shots going into Sunday’s final round. The first team closed with an 11-over 299, but the B-teamers caught up with a solid 4-over 292 in the final round. The B team had followed up an opening-round 306 with a 303 in Saturday’s second round before its strong finish.

   This Southern Cal team bears little resemblance to the one that claimed a Pac-12 team crown last spring at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., but the Trojans never lack for talent. They opened with a 299, struggled to a 306 in Saturday’s second round and closed with their best round of the weekend, an 8-under 296, to join the two Georgia teams in the tie for fifth place.

   Coming east and playing against tough competition on a tough golf course in tough conditions will pay dividends for Southern Cal in the postseason.

   Leading the way for South Carolina were a couple of talented freshmen, Louise Rydqvist of Sweden and Hannah Darling of Scotland and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, both of whom were among a trio of players tied for fifth place at 3-over 219.

   After opening with a 78, Rydqvist matched par in the second round with a 72 before matching Mack for the low round of the tournament with a final round of 3-under 69.

   Darling more than held her own as a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team that fell to the United States in the Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales last summer. Darling rattled off three straight 1-over 73s at the University of Georgia layout.

   Tai Anudit, a redshirt senior from Thailand and Mathilde Claisse, a junior from France, backed up the top two for the Gamecocks as they finished among the group tied for 11^th place, each landing on 5-over 221.

   Anudit, who transferred to South Carolina for her fifth season after winning the ASUN Championship with Kennesaw State last spring, struggled in Saturday’s second round with a 77, but matched par in the first and final rounds with 72s. Claisse matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round before struggling a little in the final round with a 76.

   Rounding out the South Carolina lineup was Justine Fournand, another junior from France who was the Player of the Year in Conference USA with Florida Atlantic before joining the Gamecocks. After struggling to an 80 in the opening round, Fournand carded a solid 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 25^th place with an 11-over 227 total.

   Wake Forest’s Chacarra and Southern Cal’s Avery shared second place in the individual chase, four shots behind Mack at 1-over 217. Stanford’s Rose Zhang seems to be on her own level, but Chacarra and Avery are two of the country’s top freshmen outside of Zhang.

   Chacarra, who has won three times this spring, added a 74 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with a 2-under 70 to get her piece of second place.

   Coming off a standout career as a junior player, Avery joined the Southern Cal program in January and has been at or near the top of the leaderboard everywhere she’s played, winning twice. Avery grinded out a pair of patient 1-over 73s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-under 71 to get her share of runnerup honors.

   Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez, a freshman from Spain, finished a shot behind Chacarra and Avery in fourth place with a 2-over 218 total. Lopez Ramirez led the field after opening with a 2-under 70 and trailed Mack by just a shot after adding a 75 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Joining South Carolina’s Rydqvist and Darling in the trio tied for fifth place at 3-over 219 was Texas A&M’s Hailee Cooper, a senior from Montgomery, Texas. Cooper opened with a solid 1-under 71 and added a 73 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 75.

   Cooper joined forces with former Texas standout Kaitlyn Papp to capture the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the Streamsong Resort’s Blue Course in central Florida in 2016. Cooper followed her pal Papp to Austin, but with Papp turning professional last summer, Cooper moved on to Texas A&M.

   Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, a junior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, headed a trio of players tied for eighth place at 4-over 220. Kuehn, a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team that defeated Darling and GB&I at Conwy last summer, had opened with a 75 and creeped within a shot of the lead with a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round before adding another 75 in Sunday’s final round.

   Chacarra, Kuehn and the rest of the Demon Deacons will tee off in the ACC Championship beginning April 14 at The Reserve Golf Club on Pawley’s Island, S.C.

   Georgia’s LaraLie Cowart, a freshman from Carrollton, Ga., joined the group at 4-over as she closed with a solid 2-under 70 after posting back-to-back 75s in the first two rounds. Cowart was part of the Bulldogs’ B team.

   Rounding out the trio at 220 was Lopez Ramirez’s Mississippi State teammate, Hannah Levi, a junior from D’Iberville, Miss. who opened with a 1-over 73 and backed off with a 77 in Saturday’s second round before finishing strong with a 2-under 70.

   Among that group of top-10 finishers in the Liz Murphey, Wake Forest’s Chacarra and Kuehn, Southern Cal’s Avery and South Carolina’s Darling, among others in the talented field that challenged the University of Georgia Golf Course over the weekend, are headed for Augusta, Ga. for Wednesday’s opening round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship at the Champions Retreat Golf Club.

   In its brief history, the Augusta National Women’s Am has quickly established itself as one of the most important events in women’s amateur golf. After a second round at Champions Retreat Thursday, the top 30 will advance to Saturday’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club, the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece that will host the Masters for the 86^th time next week.