Etxezarreta cruises to individual crown, leads Delaware to team title in Kingsmill Intercollegiate

    Despite some fairly impossible weather conditions, Oihana Etxezarreta, a sophomore from Spain, repeated as the individual champion and led the way as Delaware made it two straight team titles in the Kingsmill Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in Williamsburg, Va.

   There is really only one way for Delaware to earn a bid to an NCAA regional and that’s to win the team title in the Colonial Athletic Association, which tees off in two weeks at The Clubs at St. James in Southport, N.C. The Blue Hens finished in third place, 19 shots behind CAA champion James Madison at the Grandover Resort’s East Course in Greensboro, N.C. a year ago.

   Everybody in Delaware’s starting lineup in last spring’s CAA Championship, played in the wind and the cold at the River Course, a couple competing as individuals. The Blue Hens have one more tournament on the schedule before the CAA Championship as they tee off Sunday in the Brickyard Collegiate at Brickyard Country Club in Macon, Ga.

   It looks like Delaware will take a full head of steam to the CAA Championships, particularly after overcoming the tough weather to claim a nine-shot victory over Kingsmill Intercollegiate host and CAA rival William & Mary.

   And nobody was tougher in the brutal conditions than Etxezarreta, who was the only player to finish under par for 54 holes over the 5,974-yard, par-72 River Course layout, winning by five shots.

   Etxezarreta, who finished in ninth place as a freshman in last spring’s CAA Championship, was really tough in Monday’s double round as she matched par in the opening round with a 72 and then registered the low round of the tournament, a 2-under 70, in the afternoon to take a commanding four-shot lead over William & Mary’s Emma Lu, a freshman from China.

   Etxezarreta closed with a solid 1-over 73 to finish with a 1-under 215 total.

   Delaware followed Etxezarreta’s lead. An opening round of 14-over 302 left the Blue Hens tied for second place with William & Mary, two shots behind Richmond, a Patriot League entry. But Delaware’s 306 was the best round of the afternoon session Monday and left them with a nine-shot lead over William & Mary going into Tuesday’s final round.

   Delaware closed with a 15-over 303 for a 47-over 911 total as the Blue Hens maintained their nine-shot margin over runnerup William & Mary.

   The host Tribe slipped back from its opening-round 302 with a 315 in Monday afternoon’s second round before matching Delaware’s final-round 303 for a 56-over 920 total.

   It was another 13 shots back to Longwood, a Big South Conference entry, in third place with a 69-over 933 total. After opening with a 316, the Lancers added a 309 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 308.

   Richmond opened with the best team round of the tournament, a 12-over 300, but the Spiders couldn’t maintain their momentum as they added back-to-back 318s to finish in fourth place, three shots behind Longwood, with a 936 total.

   Richmond’s Patriot League rival, Navy, and Cal State-Northridge, getting a rude weather welcome to Virginia in March on its ambitious trip east, finished two shots behind the Spiders in a tie for fifth place in the 14-team field, each landing on 938.

   The Middies sandwiched a 312 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 313s. The Matadors, a Big West Conference representative, added a 311 in Monday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 315 before closing with a 312.

   Backing up Etxezarreta for Delaware was Alisa Khokhlova, a freshman from Russia who finished alone in seventh place with an 11-over 227 total as she sandwiched a 3-over 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 76s.

   Lexi Dart, a junior from England, was one of six players tied for ninth place at 17-over 233. Dart gutted out rounds of 81 and 79 in Monday’s double round before closing with a solid 1-over 73 to register a top-10 finish for the Blue Hens.

   Sophomore Christina Carroll, a William Penn product from Bear, Del., finished among the group tied for 30^th place with a 238 total. Carroll, who honed her game on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, opened with a solid 3-over 75, but struggled a little in the tough conditions, adding an 82 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with an 81.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Lilia Henkel, a freshman from Grand Rapids, Mich. who finished among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 246 total. Henkel opened with a 79, but struggled to an 86 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with an 81.

   All three Blue Hens who competed as individuals finished inside the top 20, giving Delaware’s director of golf programs, Patty Post, a nice problem.

   Anna Kittelson, a senior from Boise, Idaho, elbowed her way into the top 10 as opened with a 76, struggled a little in Monday afternoon’s second round with an 82 and closed with a solid 1-over 73 to finish alone in eighth place with a 15-over 231 total.

   Lene Sperling, a junior from Germany, finished among the group tied for 15^th place with a 234 total as she bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a solid 2-over 74.

   Liz Coffren, a sophomore from Owings, Md., ended up in the group tied for 19^th place with a 235 total as she added a solid 2-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 80 before finishing up with an 81.

   Otxezarreta, Carroll, Dart, Kittelson and Coffren comprised the starting lineup for Delaware in last spring’s CAA Championship.

   William & Mary’s Lu wasn’t quite able to keep up with Otxezarreta, but she posted a solid runnerup finish. After opening with a 2-over 74, Lu matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before closing with another 74 for a 4-over 220 total.

   Longwood’s Diane Domenech, a senior from Richmond, Va., was another two shots behind Lu in third place with a 6-over 222 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Domenech posted a solid 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Richmond’s Emily Ward, a senior from Canada, was a shot behind Domenech in fourth place as she added a 78 in Monday afternoon’s second round to a solid opening round of 1-over 73 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Cal State-Northridge’s Fernanda Sosa, a freshman from Mexico, finished two shots behind Ward in fifth place with a 225 total as she sandwiched a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 76s.

   William & Mary’s Sarah Houle, a senior from Sandy Hook, Conn., finished a shot behind Sosa in sixth place with a 10-over 226 total. After opening with a solid 1-over 73, Houle cooled off a little with a 78 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 75.

   Heading the list of five other players who joined Delaware’s Dart in a tie for ninth place at 17-over 233 was Richmond’s Rory Weinfurther, a sophomore from Fayetteville, Ga. who captured the Patriot League individual title last spring at Saucon Valley Country Club. Weinfurther opened with a 2-over 74 before falling back a little with a 78 in Monday afternoon’s second round and finishing up with an 81.

   Rounding out the group at 233 were the Central Michigan pair of Ashley Goh, a sophomore from Malaysia and Mackenzie Baustad, a sophomore from Canada, Navy’s Stephanie Lee, a sophomore from Southlake, Texas, and Lehigh’s Madison Pineda, a junior from San Carlos, Calif.

   Goh added a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 76 before finishing up with a 78. Baustad had the individual lead following an opening round of 1-under 71 before cooling off with an 80 in Monday afternoon’s second round and closing with an 82.

   Lee added a 76 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 77 before finishing up with an 80. Pineda bounced back from an opening-round 79 with a solid 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with an 81.

   Richmond freshman Lauren Jones, the Inter-Ac League champion as an Episcopal Academy senior last spring at French Creek Golf Club, had a great start to her college career with several strong showings for the Spiders last fall. Highlighting a string of strong performances for Jones was her runnerup finish in the Navy Fall Invitational at the Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis, Md. that led the Spiders to the team crown.

   Jones headed into the midseason pause as the first player in the history of the program with a sub-75 scoring average going into the second half of the season.

   Jones, however, had been struggling this spring. After adding an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 78 in the Kingsmill Invitational, Jones sat out the final round with what the Richmond website called a hip injury.

   That would explain Jones’ inconsistent play this spring. The golf swing puts a lot of stress on a player’s hips and sometimes the best thing to do is to take some time off. Hopefully, Jones will be healthy enough to play some competitive golf this summer and she still has a lot of golf left to be played at Richmond.