A couple of Southeastern Conference powers, South Carolina and reigning national champion Mississippi, were the last two teams standing as they earned a share of the team title in the Valspar Augusta Invitational, which wrapped up on a chilly Sunday at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.
Originally scheduled to be a 54-hole event with a double round Saturday, the Valspar Augusta Invitational was shortened to 36 holes with fierce winds Saturday allowing for just a single round.
Nothing affects golf more than wind and the conditions were so tough for Saturday’s first round that South Carolina, No. 4 in the latest Golfstat rankings, took the lead with a 13-over 301.
Ole Miss, ranked 25th, and No. 41 Miami, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, were two shots behind the Gamecocks, each landing on 15-over-par 303.
South Carolina, behind Hannah Darling, a freshman from England and No. 12 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), closed with a solid 1-over 289 over the 6,244-yard, par-72 Forest Hills layout for a 14-over 590 total. It was South Carolina’s third tournament win of the wraparound 2021-2022 season.
But Ole Miss, behind Chiara Tamburlini, a junior from Switzerland, matched the low round of the day with a 1-under 287 that enabled it to catch the Gamecocks at 14-over. It was the Rebels’ first tournament victory since their epic 4-1 win over Oklahoma State in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Darling added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 72 to finish in a tie for second place in the individual standings at 1-over 145, a shot behind the individual champion, host Augusta’s Natalia Yoko, a senior from Indonesia. Tamburlini carded her second straight 1-over 73 and finished alone in fourth place in leading the way for the Rebels.
Darling, the winner of the Royal & Ancient’s Girls’ Amateur Championship last summer, went 2-1-2 for Great Britain & Ireland in its 12.5-7.5 loss to the United States in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales.
Wouldn’t be real surprised to see Darling back in captain Elaine Ratcliffe’s lineup when the Curtis Cup Match, in a quick turnaround due to, what else, the coronavirus pandemic, tees off in 88 days at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township. Needless to say, Darling is a nice addition to the South Carolina lineup.
One of Darling’s GB&I teammates at Conwy, Florida State’s Charlotte Heath, a sophomore from England, helped the Seminoles match Mississippi for the low team round of the tournament, a 1-under 287, in Sunday’s final round and finish four shots behind the co-champions in third place with an 18-over 594 total. The Seminoles, like everybody else, struggled in Saturday’s cold and wind, opening with a 19-over 307.
No. 14 Florida State was the runnerup to Duke in last spring’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. and then proceeded to claim the first NCAA regional crown in program history by besting the field in the Louisville Regional.
Perennial SEC power Alabama, ranked No. 9, was five shots behind Florida State in fourth place with a 23-over 599 total, the Crimson Tide bouncing back from an opening-round 308 with a solid 3-over 291 in Sunday’s final round.
No. 58 Augusta, behind Yoko, the individual champion, finished in a tie for fifth place with No. 23 Virginia Tech, another ACC entry, each landing on 29-over 605, six shots behind Alabama.
Augusta, which joined the Southland Conference this year, added a 10-over 298 to its opening-round 307. Yoko had carded a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s difficult conditions and trailed the leader, Furman’s Anna Morgan, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C., by three shots.
But Yoko made an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole and had back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 to offset two bogeys as she posted a solid 2-under 70 in Sunday’s final round for an even-par 144 total that gave her a one-shot victory.
Virginia Tech bounced back from an opening-round 312 with a 5-over 293 in Sunday’s final round to join Augusta in the tie for fifth place at 29-over.
Miami was unable to take advantage of Sunday’s more benign conditions as the Hurricanes matched their opening-round 303 with another 15-over 303 that left them in seventh place, a shot behind Augusta and Virginia Tech with a 30-over 606 total.
No. 45 Furman, a perennial Southern Conference power, added a 10-over 298 to its opening-round 309 to finish a shot behind Miami in eighth place in the 16-team field with a 31-over 607 total.
Backing up Darling for South Carolina was Tai Anudet, a redshirt senior from Thailand who was the low Gamecock in Sunday’s final round with a sparkling 3-under 69 that left her in a group of five players tied for fifth place at 3-over 147. Anudet had opened with a 78.
Anudet is another strong addition for the Gamecocks as she chose to take the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the pandemic at South Carolina. Anudet was the ASUN individual champion while playing for Kennesaw State last spring.
Louise Rydqvist, a freshman from Sweden, matched par in Sunday’s final round with a 72 after opening with a 78 as she finished in the group tied for 18th place with a 6-over 150 total for South Carolina.
Rounding out the lineup for South Carolina were a pair of French women, juniors Mathilde Claisse and Justine Fourand, as they finished tied for 22nd and 25th place, respectively.
Claisse added a 75 to the really solid 1-over 73 she registered in Saturday’s tough conditions to join the group at 7-over 151. Fourand opened with a 75 before carding a 77 in Sunday’s final round to end up among the group at 8-over 152.
South Carolina’s depth was on display at Forest Hills as Paula Kirner, a sophomore from Germany, finished among a group of six players tied for 10th place at 4-over 148 while competing as an individual. Kirner closed with a solid 1-over 73 after opening with a 75.
Tamburlini’s pair of 1-over 73s left her alone in fourth place at 2-over as she led the way for Ole Miss.
Backing up Tamburlini were Andrea Lignell, a junior from Sweden and No. 88 in the Women’s WAGR, and Julia Johnson, a senor from St. Gabriel, La. and No. 19 in the Women’s WAGR, both of whom landed in the large group tied for 10th place at 4-over 148. Both added a 1-over 73 in Sunday’s final round to an opening-round 75.
Tamburlini, Lignell and Johnson were all in the lineup and each won her match in Ole Miss’ victory over Oklahoma State in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match last spring at Grayhawk.
The best round of the day in Sunday’s final round for Mississippi was the 4-under 68 turned in by Natacha Host Hosted, a freshman from Denmark. The best part of the round was that Host Hosted was able to put her opening-round 82 behind her. Host Hosted’s 6-over 150 total left Host Hosted in the group tied for 18th place.
Rounding out the Ole Miss lineup was Ellen Hutchinson-Kay, a senior from Sweden who ended up among the group tied for 41st place with a 156 total. Hutchinson-Kay’s opening-round 80 enabled the Rebels to toss Host Hosted’s 82 and Hutchinson-Kay added a 76 in Sunday’s final round.
Joining Darling in the tie for second place in the individual chase was Florida State’s Beatrice Wallin, a senior from Sweden and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR. After struggling to a 78 in the opening round, Wallin had the best round of the weekend, a 5-under 67, in Sunday’s final round to join Darling at 1-over 145.
Wallin was the runnerup to Duke’s Gina Kim in the individual standings in last spring’s ACC Championship at Sedgefield.
Furman’s Morgan, who had grabbed the individual lead with a really strong 1-under 71 in Saturday’s difficult conditions, fell back with a 76 in Sunday’s final round to join South Carolina’s Anudet and three others in the group tied for fifth place at 3-over 147.
Florida State’s Heath, backing up Wallin for the Seminoles, was in that group at 147 as she matched par in Sunday’s final round with a 72 after opening with a 75.
Rounding out the quintet at 3-over were Alabama’s Polly Mack, a fifth-year player from Germany and No. 81 in the Women’s WAGR, and Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar, a senior from Australia and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR.
Like Heath, Mack matched par in Sunday’s final round with a 72 after opening with a 77. Mahar, who made a run to the quarterfinals in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 2-under 70.
Among the crowded group tied for 10th place at 4-over 148, along with Lignell and Johnson of Ole Miss and South Carolina’s Kirner, was a pair of San Diego State players, Sara Kjellker, a senior from Sweden and No. 48 in the Women’s WAGR, and Bernice Olivarez Ilas, a junior from the Philippines.
Kjellker, coming off a tie for fifth place in the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational in Fairfax, Calif. last week in some ambitious scheduling by the Aztecs, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a gritty 1-under 71 in Sunday’s final round. Olivarez Ilas was in lockstep with her teammate as she added a solid 1-under 71 to her opening-round 77.
Rounding out the group tied for 10th place was Minnesota’s Emma Carpenter, a junior from DeKalb, Ill. who, like the San Diego State pair, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a solid 1-under 71 in Sunday’s final round.
Among that group of top-10 finishers, Florida State’s Wallin, South Carolina’s Darling, Furman’s Morgan and Mississippi’s Johnson, will all be back in the Augusta area later this month when the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship tees off March 30 at the Champions Retreat Golf Club.
After a second round at Champions Retreat March 31st, the top 30 players will play in the final round April 2nd at Augusta National, the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece that is the home of the Masters, in what has quickly become one of the top women’s amateur events in the world.
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