LSU's Lindblad cruises to individual title, Clemson claims team crown in Clover Cup

    LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, a junior from Sweden, decided to remind everybody that she is the No. 3 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as she rolled to a five-shot victory over a pretty strong field that gathered in the desert, more specifically Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz., for the Clover Cup, which wrapped up Sunday.

   Lindblad opened with a 7-under-par 65 over the 6,184-yard, par-72 Longbow layout that featured seven birdies and nary a bogey and never looked back. Lindblad added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round and closed with a 4-under 68 for a 13-under 203 total.

   It was Lindblad’s seventh career individual victory, tying her with former LPGA Tour standout Jenny Lidback for the most in program history. Lidback, who lives in the Phoenix area, was out on the golf course Sunday rooting on her alma mater.

   Lindblad’s 13-under 203 finish was the second-best performance in program history behind only her 14-under 202 showing as the runnerup to South Carolina’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard in last spring’s Southeastern Conference Championship at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.

   Lindblad seems to be peaking with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship on the horizon. She was one of six players who finished in a tie for third place, a shot out of the playoff between eventual champion Tsubasa Kajitani and Emilia Migliaccio, in last spring’s edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

   The Augusta National Women’s Amateur tees of March 30 at the Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

   The team title in the Clover Cup went to Clemson, No. 41 in the latest Golfstat rankings, as the Tigers, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, closed with a sparkling 12-under 276 that gave them an 18-under 846 total that was five shots clear of No. 19 Texas A&M.

   Remarkably, it was the first outright team win in a 54-hole tournament in program history and Clemson’s 18-under 846 total tied a program record.

   Maybe more remarkably, the Tigers won the title without, arguably, their best player, Ivy Shepherd, a junior from Peachtree City, Ga. and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR. Did a little searching around and couldn’t find a reason for Shepherd’s absence, but her return would be a boost for a Clemson team that is doing things it has never done before without her.

   Clemson opened with a 2-under 286 and added a 4-under 284 in Saturday’s second round that left it two shots behind Lindblad and the Bayou Tigers heading into Sunday’s final round.

   Texas A&M, like LSU an SEC entry, closed with the best team round of the weekend, a 14-under 274, to earn runnerup honors with a 13-under 851 total, five shots behind Clemson. The Aggies had opened with a 2-over 290 and added a 1-under 287 in Saturday’s second round before their impressive finishing kick. The 14-under final round was a program record.

   No. 17 LSU, behind Lindblad, had opened with a 2-under 286 before adding a 6-under 282 in Saturday’s second round to take a two-shot lead over Clemson into Sunday’s final round. The Bayou Tigers could only match par in the final round as they finished in third place with an 8-under 856 total that was five shots behind Texas A&M.

   Another SEC entry, No. 30 Kentucky, and No. 31 TCU, out of the Big 12, finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on even-par 864, eight shots behind LSU.

   The Wildcats, behind a fifth-place finish from U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle, a junior from West Columbia, S.C. and No. 66 in the Women’s WAGR, matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 2-over 290 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 286.

   The Horned Frogs grabbed the lead at the end of Friday’s opening round with a 4-under 284 and were only three shots behind pace-setting LSU after adding a 1-under 287 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 5-over 293. By the way, before transferring to LSU for her final season, Lidback helped TCU capture the NCAA Championship in 1983.

   Another SEC power, No. 28 Georgia, was two shots behind Kentucky and TCU in sixth place in the 17-team field with a 2-over 866 total. The Bulldogs added a 292 in Saturday’s second round to their opening round of 3-over 291 before finishing strong with a 5-under 283.

   Leading the way for Clemson was Katherine Schuster, a freshman from Outer Banks, N.C. who was part of a foursome tied for sixth place in the individual standings at 5-under 211. Schuster was steady all weekend, posting back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds before contributing a 3-under 69 to the Tigers’ final-round surge.

   Savannah Grewal, a sophomore from Canada, struggled to a 77 in Friday’s opening round and then proceeded to go off, shaving 10 shots off that disappointing first round with a sparkling 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round before matching Schuster’s final-round 69 to finish in a tie for 13^th place with a 3-under 213 total.

   The best round of the day in Sunday’s final round for Clemson was turned in by Melena Barrientos, a freshman from Plano, Texas who closed with a 4-under 68 to finish among the group tied for 15^th place with a 2-under 214 total. Barrientos had matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 74 in Saturday’s second round.

   Callista Rice, a senior from Mars Hill, N.C., gave Clemson a fourth finisher among the top 20 as she landed in the group tied for 19^th place with a 1-under 215 total. After opening with a 1-under 71, Rice matched par in the final two rounds with back-to-back 72s.

   Rounding out the Clemson lineup was Annabelle Pancake, a sophomore from Zionsville, Ind. who finished in the group tied for 27^th place with a 3-over 219 total. Pancake matched par in the opening round with a 72 and struggled to a 77 in Saturday’s second round before contributing a 2-under 70 to the Tigers’ strong final round.

   A trio of players – TCU’s Caitlyn Macnab, a freshman from South Africa, Texas A&M’s Jennie Park, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, and East Tennessee State’s Sera Hasegawa, a freshman from Japan – shared runnerup honors, each landing on 8-under 208, five shots behind Lindblad.

   Macnab added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 71 before closing with a sparkling 5-under 67. Park was just two shots behind Lindblad’s blistering pace going into the final round after she added a 69 in Saturday’s second round to her opening round of 4-under 68, but she cooled off a little in the final round with a 71. Hasegawa also trailed Lindblad by only two shots going into the final round as she got off to a fast start with a 5-under 67 and added a 70 in Saturday’s second round. Hasegawa matched Park’s final-round 71 to get her share of second place at 8-under.

   Kentucky’s Castle closed with a rush, firing a 6-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to surge to a fifth-place finish at 7-under 209. Castle had opened with a 2-under 70, but backed off a little with a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round.

   Castle’s stunning victory in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. earned her a spot on the U.S. team for the Curtis Cup Match against Great Britain & Ireland a couple of weeks later at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. Castle went 1-1-2 as the U.S. rallied from a Day 1 deficit for a 12.5-7.5 victory and retained the Cup.

   The Curtis Cup Match at Conwy was originally scheduled for 2020, but was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic. The latest U.S. Women’s Amateur winner is an automatic qualifier for the U.S. Curtis Cup, so the unusual timing of last year’s Curtis Cup gave Castle a two-fer as she is an automatic qualifier for the U.S. team for this year’s Curtis Cup Match, which tees off in 87 days at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course.

   Joining Clemson’s Schuster in the foursome tied for sixth place at 5-under 211 were Texas A&M’s Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a sophomore from Spain, Florida Atlantic’s Letizia Bagnoli, a senior from Italy, and New Mexico’s Myah McDonald, a sophomore from Kaneohe, Hawaii.

   Fernandez Garcia-Poggio provided the spark for the Aggies’ final-round surge as she tied a program record with a scintillating 8-under 64. Fernandez Garcia-Poggio started her round on the fifth hole and made a bogey at the sixth. She then proceeded to birdie nine of her last 16 holes. She had opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 74 in Saturday’s second round before going off in the final round.

   Bagnoli opened with a solid 3-under 69, matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 and finished up with a 2-under 70.

   If the name sounds familiar, Bagnoli was in the cauldron of the NCAA Championship’s Final Match as a freshman with Wake Forest in the spring of 2019 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Duke got the clinching point in its 3-2 victory over the Demon Deacons when Miranda Wang edged Bagnoli on the 20^th hole of their match. Pressure? Bagnoli’s been there.

   McDonald had the same splits as Bagnoli, opening with a 3-under 69 and matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 70.

   Lois Lau, a sophomore from France, gave TCU a second finisher in the top 10 as she ended up in a tie for 10^th place in an all-European trio at 4-under 212 that included Georgia’s Caterina Don, a junior from Italy, and Oklahoma’s Hannah Screen, a senior from England.

   After opening with a 71, Lau registered a solid 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Don had the identical splits as Lau, adding a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 71 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Screen, who started her college career at Houston, posted back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   I had figured out that Caroline Wrigley, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at North Allegheny, was no longer on the Furman roster, but I had been unable to figure out where she had landed. But there she was playing for Clover Cup host Notre Dame at Longbow.

   A junior, Wrigley didn’t play great in the Clover Cup as she sandwiched a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 80s to finish among the group tied for 70^th place with a 234 total. But she’s in the starting lineup for a Division I program and that’s pretty strong.

   The 76th-ranked Fighting Irish, an ACC entry, finished in 12^th place in the Clover Cup with a 28-over 892 total, closing with their best round of the weekend, a 6-over 294.

   Another former western Pennsylvania scholastic standout, junior Jessica Meyers, who played her high school golf at Oakland Catholic, competed as an individual for Notre Dame in the Clover Cup. Meyers opened with a 4-over 76, her best round of the weekend, and added a 79 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with an 82 that left her in a tie for 76^th place with a 237 total.