Wang's spectacular final-round 62 gives Illinois its first Big Ten team crown at Fox Chapel

   Not sure if there is such a thing as a bubble when it comes to the teams that are hoping to receive a bid to one of the six NCAA regionals in Division I women’s golf, but if there is, Illinois was probably very much on it.

   But, like the case with basketball, winning your conference championship makes you an automatic qualifier (an AQ in the parlance of those who follow these things closely).

   So, the Fighting Illini erased any doubts that they would have a spot in the NCAA regionals by winning the team crown in the Big Ten Championship for the first time in program history, beating a bunch of teams with higher rankings behind a spectacular performance by individual champion Crystal Wang, a graduate student from Diamond Bar, Calif., at Fox Chapel Golf Club in suburban Pittsburgh.

   The Big Ten Championship wrapped up April 23rd and the NCAA regional fields were announced Wednesday. Any more conference championships I wrap up, and I hope to get to a few more, will reference to which regional any of the teams who earned bids are headed.

   Illinois was No. 53 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the Big Ten Championship, so the Fighting Illini were probably a little closer to No. 60 when they arrived in Pittsburgh.

   But Illinois’ 13-over-par 865 total left it three shots ahead of Northwestern and six shots clear of Ohio State, two of the Big Ten’s perennial powers. The Fighting Illini spent the end of this week making travel plans for TPC San Antonio, where they will be the ninth seed when the San Antonio Regional tees off May 8.

   A lot of the credit goes to Wang, who broke all kinds of Illinois and Big Ten Championship records by lighting up the 6,045-yard, par-71 classic Seth Raynor design in the final round with a scintillating 9-under 62.

   It’s not like it was an easy golf course, either. The next lowest score was the 3-under 68 turned in by Minnesota’s Isabella McCauley, a freshman from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., that earned her a share of runnerup honors with Wisconsin’s Emily Lauterbach, a senior from Hartland, Wis. They finished a whopping 12 shots behind Wang.

   Wang had matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 3-under 68 in the second round to get a share of the individual lead with her Illinois teammate Isabel Sy, a junior from San Gabriel, Calif.

   But Wang’s final round was special right from the start as she birdied the first four holes. She added birdies at the seventh, 10^th, 12^th, 13^th and 15^th holes – that’s nine birdies, half the holes – with nary a bogey on the card. The final-round 62 gave her a 12-under 201 total.

   Wang became Illinois’ first individual Big Ten champion since her coach Renee Slone – she was Renee Heiken back then – in 1993, 30 years ago. Wang’s 62 was a program record for a single round and a Big Ten Championship record. Her 201 total smashed the previous Big Ten Championship record for 54 holes by four shots.

   Illinois had opened with a solid 2-over 286 and added an 8-over 292 in the second round that left it a shot behind Ohio State going into the final round. With Wang leading the way, the Fighting Illini closed with a 3-over 287 to get it to 13-over.

   Northwestern matched Illinois’ final round of 3-over 287 to finish three shots behind its cross-state rival with a 16-over 868 total. The Wildcats had opened with an 11-over 295 before posting a solid 2-over 286 in the second round.

   Northwestern entered the Big Ten Championship as the highest-ranked team in the field at No. 15 and maintained that ranking following its runnerup finish. The Wildcats will be seeded third in the Palm Beach Gardens Regional.

   Ohio State, under second-year head coach Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic and a former standout with the Buckeyes, opened with an 8-over 292 and had the low team round of the tournament, a 1-over 285, in the second round to take a one-shot edge into the final round.

   The Buckeyes closed with a 10-over 294 to finish three shots behind Northwestern in third place with a 19-over 871 total. Ohio State moved up a notch in the Golfstat rankings from No. 24 to No. 23 in the aftermath of the Big Ten Championships.

   Ohio State will head for the Athens Regional, where it will be seeded fourth.

   It was another 12 shots back to Maryland in fourth place as the Terrapins struggled to a 302 in the final round to finish with a 31-over 883 total. Maryland had opened with a 10-over 294 before posting a solid 3-over 287 in the second round.

   Maryland, ranked 33, will join Ohio State in the field at the Athens Regional as a six seed.

   No. 78 Wisconsin completed its season with a solid fifth-place finish in the Big Ten Championship with a 38-over 890 total as the Badgers added a 302 in the second round to their opening-round 295 before closing with their best round of the tournament, a 9-over 293.

   Defending champion Michigan and its cross-state rival Michigan State were probably disappointed with their tie for sixth place as both the Wolverines and the Spartans landed on 45-over 897, seven shots behind Wisconsin.

   Michigan, which dropped a notch in the Golfstat rankings from No. 43 to No. 44 in the aftermath of the Big Ten Championship, registered back-to-back 301s in the first two rounds before closing with an 11-over 295.

   The Wolverines will get a talented addition to their roster this summer with arrival of Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish, a two-time PIAA Class AAA and three-time District One Class AAA champion.

   Michigan State, which fell two spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 32 to No. 34 following the Big Ten Championship, added a 298 to its opening-round 302 before closing with its best round of the tournament, a 13-over 297.

   Michigan and Michigan State did snag at-large bids into the NCAA postseason as the Wolverines will be the eighth seed in the Westfield Regional in Indiana and the Spartans will join Northwestern in the Palm Beach Gardens Regional, where they will be seeded sixth.

   Purdue, which finished in ninth-place with a 46-over 898 total at Fox Chapel, is headed for the Raleigh Regional, where it will be seeded ninth. Nebraska, which finished six shots behind the Boilermakers in 10th place in the Big Ten Championship, will also be in the field at the Raleigh Regional as the 10^th seed.

   It was a disappointing end to the wraparound 2022-2023 season for Penn State as the Nittany Lions finished in a tie for 12^th place with Indiana, each ending up with a 58-over 910 tota. After struggling to a 307 in the opening round, Penn State put together its best round of the tournament, an 8-over 292, in the second round before closing with a 311.

   The season will continue for Penn State’s best player, Mathilde Delavallade, a senior from France who will compete in the Athens Regional as an individual. Delavallade is the first Penn State representative in the NCAA regionals since Cara Baso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA champion as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy, competed as an individual in the Madison Regional as a junior in 2018.

   For two rounds, Sy was the equal of her teammate Wang as Sy added a 1-under 70 in the second round to her opening round of 2-under 69. She closed with a 4-over 75, but still finished alone in fourth place with a 1-over 214 total and, obviously, played a huge role in the team chase for the Fighting Illini.

   Lexanne Halama, a sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn., backed up the top two for Illinois as she finished in the group tied for 30^th place with a 227 total. Haloma added a 6-over 77 in the second round to her opening-round 76 before closing with a critical 1-over 72 as the Fighting Illini were trying hold off a hard-charging Northwestern.

   Siyan Chen, a senior from China, contributed a 1-under 70 to Illinois’ solid start and added a 6-over 77 before closing with an 81 as she finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 228 total.

   Mattie Frick, a freshman from Peoria, Ariz., added an 80 in the second round to her opening round of 5-over 76 before closing with a 79 to finish in the group tied for 65^th place with a 235 total.

   For the Big Ten Championship, teams were comprised of six players with the top four scores counting. Rounding out the lineup for Illinois was Anna Ritter, a freshman from New Albany, Ohio who finished in a tie for 74^th place with a 237 total as she added an 80 in the second round to her opening-round 79 before closing with her best round of the tournament, a 7-over 78.

   Minnesota’s McCauley matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 3-over 74 before her final-round 68 got her a share of second place with an even-par 213 total.

   McCauley will represent the Golden Gophers as an individual in the Westfield Regional.

   Wisconsin’s Lauterbach matched the best score of the opening round with a 2-under 69 and added a 2-over 73 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 71 that enabled her to join McCauley for a share of runnerup honors at even-par 213.

   Rutgers’ Leigha Devine, a senior from Windsor, Colo., finished alone in fifth place, a shot behind Illinois’ Sy with a 2-over 215 total. After opening with a 1-over 72, Devine added a 74 in the second round before closing with a solid 2-under 69.

   Northwestern’s Kelly Sim, a graduate student from Edgewater, N.J., Ohio State’s Lauren Peter, a senior from Carmel, N.Y., and Maryland’s Patricie Mackova, a junior from the Czech Republic, finished in a three-way tie for sixth place, each ending up two shots behind Devine at 4-over 217 total.

   Sim was just two shots out of the lead in the individual chase after adding a 2-under 69 to her opening round of 1-over 72. Sim closed with a 5-over 76.

   Peter matched Sim’s 2-under 69 in the second round after opening with a 3-over 74 before closing with another 74. Mackova added a solid 1-under 70 in the second round to her opening round of 1-over 72 before finishing up with a 4-over 75.

   Sim’s Northwestern teammate, Lauryn Nguyen, a sophomore from Seattle, Wash., and Mackova’s Maryland teammate, Panassaya Somchit, a sophomore from Thailand, rounded out the top 10 in the individual standings as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 5-over 218.

   Nguyen opened with a 2-over 73 and added a 76 in the second round before closing with a solid 2-under 69. Somchit sandwiched a 74 in the second round with a pair of 1-over 72s.

   Leading the way for Penn State was Isha Dhruva, a senior from Katy, Texas who finished among the group tied for 30^th place with a 227 total. Dhruva added a 3-over 74 in the second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 78.

   Delavallade sandwiched a 1-under 70 in the second round with a pair of 79s to finish in the group tied for 34^th place with a 228 total.

   Fifth-year player Sarah Willis of Eaton, Ohio closed out a standout career in Happy Valley by finishing in a tie for 50^th place with a 231 total. Willis was the picture of consistency at Fox Chapel, rattling off three straight 6-over 77s.

   Drew Nienhaus, a sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., finished among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 232 total as she bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a 4-over 75 in the second round before finishing up with a 77.

   Redshirt senior Taylor Waller, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2016 as a junior at Canon-McMillan, closed out her Penn State career by finishing in the group tied for 71^st place with a 236 total. Waller bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 2-over 73 in the second round before finishing up with a 79.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was sophomore Michelle Cox, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus who finished in the group tied for 76^th place with a 238 total. Cox, the Pennsylvania Junior Girls champion in 2021, posted a couple of solid 5-over 76s in the first two rounds before struggling to an 86 in the final round.

   Redshirt freshman Jade Gu, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Pennsbury, got into the Purdue lineup as its sixth player and finished among the group tied for 65^th place with a 235 total. After opening with a solid 4-over 75, Gu registered back-to-back 80s in the final two rounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sung's 73 at Spring Hollow is the best score of the day as he captures a Junior Tour victory

   Christopher Sung of Paoli, playing in the younger 13-to-15 division, had the day’s best round, a solid 3-over-par 73 Sunday at Spring Hollow Golf Club in East Vincent, Chester County to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory.

   Sung made birdies on the first, sixth and 13^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard to edge Liam McFadden of Bryn Mawr by a shot in a tight battle for the top spot. McFadden matched Sung’s birdies on the first and sixth holes, added a third birdie at 14, and had nine pars, six of them on the incoming nine at the par-70 Spring Hollow layout.

   Justin Marcus of Glenmoore had 11 pars, seven of them on Spring Hollow’s back nine, to finish in third place, four shots behind McFadden with a 78.

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. and Jin Sun of Princeton, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth place, each carding an 80, and Carson Holmes of Thorndale and Liam Crowley of Wayne shared sixth place, each posting an 81.

   Anderson Brexler of Doylestown took eighth place with an 82 and Vyom Shukla of Berwyn was ninth with an 83.

   Rounding out the top 10 in a very competitive 13-to-15 division were Carson Deninger of Bryn Mawr and Will Shannon of Wayne as each registered an 84 to finish in a tie for 10^th place.

   West Chester East junior Thomas Baschoff made birdies at the ninth, 15^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard on his way to a 4-over 74 that earned him a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division.

   Episcopal Academy junior Jack Crowley, another member of Wayne’s Team Crowley, made birdies at the third, 10^th, 11^th and 14^th holes and had six pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Baschoff in second place with a 5-over 75.

   Unionville junior Johan Tuerff made a birdie on the sixth hole and had nine pars on his card, six of them on Spring Hollow’s incoming nine, to finish in third place with an 8-over 78.

   Shayne O’Doherty, a junior at Twin Valley, and Haverford School sophomore Gregor Weissenberger, shared fourth place, each recording a 79, Boyertown sophomore Chase Dillman was sixth with an 82, Sean Mariano of Lansdale was seventh with an 83 Colin Keiser of West Chester was eighth with an 84.

   Daniel Oxford of Doylestown took ninth place with an 87 and Episcopal Academy junior Jack Yearley rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished in 10^th place with a 90.

   Honesdale junior Kayla Benson, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, made birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes and had seven pars on her scorecard on her way to a solid 82 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division.

   Rounding out a short field in the 16-to-18 division was Villa Maria Academy sophomore Ava McCaughan, who had five pars on her card on her way to runnerup honors with a 91.

   Saloni Patel of Collegeville had four pars on her scorecard as the landed atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 91 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Corinne McReynolds of Wayne had five pars on her card, four of them on Spring Hollow’s incoming nine, to earn runnerup honors with a 94. Megan Choi of Penn Valley, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Indian Spring Golf Course, had three pars on her way to a 103 that left her in third place.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Emma Gangemi of Downingtown as she finished in fourth place with a 110.

   Henry Sokol of Villanova completed a weekend sweep among the nine-holers as he had five pars on his scorecard, including four straight to finish his round, to get a share of the top spot with J.D. Sivel of Hanover, each carding a 4-over 39. Sivel made a birdie on the second hole and had three pars on his card.

   Henry Sokol was the outright winner in the coed 12-and-under division in the Philly Junior Tour stop Saturday at Indian Spring in South Jersey.

   Nathan Lebo of Collegeville, Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring and Max Davis of Newtown Square finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 7-over 42.

   Lebo made birdies on the fourth and eighth holes and had three pars on his card and Naseem and Davis each had three pars on his card.

   Rayan Shah of Newtown took sixth place with a 43 and William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr, Ethan Meersman of Fort Washington and Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square shared seventh, each carding a 44.

   Rounding out the top 10 in a typically competitive coed 12-and-under division was Jack Sokol of Villanova’s Team Sokol as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 45. Only six shots separated the two players tied at the top and Jack Sokol in 10^th place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sieben's 75 gives him a Junior Tour victory at Indian Spring

   Playing out of the younger 13-to-15 division, Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. had the best score of the day Saturday with a 5-over-par 75 at Indian Spring Golf Course in Marlton, N.J. that gave him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory.

   Sieben’s steady round was highlighted by a birdie at the 14^th hole and he had 11 pars on his scorecard.

   Paul Reilly of West Creek, N.J. finished just a shot behind Sieben in second place among the younger guys as made a birdie on the 17^th hole and had 10 pars on his card, six of them coming in the last seven holes on the outgoing nine of the par-70 Indian Spring layout, on his way to a 76.

   Anestis Kalderemtzis of Glen Mills made birdies at the fourth and sixth holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished three shots behind Reilly in third place with a 79.

   Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. took fourth place with an 80, Benjamin Robbins of Holland was fifth with an 81 and Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. was sixth with an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were four players tied for seventh place at 83, including Keller Tannehill of Margate, N.J., Quin Zuegner of New Hope, Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J., and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J.

   Luke Tappeiner of Northfield, N.J., who has been playing some solid golf this spring, and Brian Cotter of Cherry Hill, N.J. each got credit for a Philly Junior Tour win as they finished in a tie for first place in the 16-to-18 division, each landing on 6-over 76.

   Tappeiner made birdies at the first and fifth holes and had nine pars on his scorecard while Cotter made a birdie at 16 and had 10 pars on his card.

   Ardmore’s Aidan Farkas, who earned a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State as a junior at St. Joseph’s Prep last fall, made birdies at the sixth and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished a shot behind the co-medalists in third place with a 77.

   Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. took fourth place with a 78 and the trio of Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J., Nathan Smith of Chestertown, Md. and Ethan Barroway of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 79.

   Germantown Academy junior and Blue Bell resident Ajeet Bagga, the Inter-Ac League’s top performer during its six regular-season invitationals, finished alone in eighth place with an 81. Bagga also earned runnerup honors in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship at Llanerch Country Club last fall.

   Campbell Swart of Southampton, N.J. took eighth place with an 85 and Aidan Riley of Pennsauken, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division, finishing in 10^th place with an 86.

   The best score recorded among the girls came from Sabrina Swope of Levittown, who was the only entry in the 16-to-18 division, as she made a birdie on the first hole and had two pars on her scorecard on her way to a 90.

   Megan Choi of Penn Valley had six pars on her card as she finished atop the leaderboard in a tight battle in the 13-to-15 division with a 92.

   Lydia Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. and Amelia Nace of Furlong finished a shot behind Choi in a tie for second place as he each posted a 93. Bernardi had three pars on her card while Nace had five pars, four of them on the front nine at Indian Spring.

   Daria Yohe of Willow Grove rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in fourth place with a 109.

   Henry Sokol of Villanova, another guy who has been playing some solid golf this spring, made birdies on the second and sixth holes and had two pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 2-over 37.

   Rayan Shah of Langhorne, who has been a regular on the coed 12-and-under division leaderboards this spring, had four pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 6-over 41.

   Nathan Lavin of Burlington, N.J. made a birdie on the fifth hole and had two pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 43.

   Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. took fourth place with a 44, Chloe Donohue of Moorestown, N.J. was fifth with a 45, and Jack Sokol, another member of Villanova’s Team Sokol, was sixth with a 46.

   Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring, Ethan Meersman of Fort Washington and Josh Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. shared seventh place as each landed on 48.

   Max Davis of Newtown Square rounded out the top 10 in a very competitive coed 12-and-under division as he finished in 10^th place with a 49.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zhang captures Pac-12 individual title, but it's Southern Cal that comes out on top in team chase at Papago

   The Rose Zhang victory tour continued in the individual chase, but it was Southern California, not Zhang and reigning national champion Stanford, that claimed the team title in the Pac-12 Championship, which wrapped up Wednesday at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz.

   Zhang, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif., checked off a couple more boxes in her glittering amateur career in the last month as she captured the title in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship in a playoff with Georgia’s Jenny Bae before claiming a runaway victory in last week’s Pac-12 Championship.

   Her reign at No. 1 atop the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) stretched to a record 136^th week last week. Zhang’s 10^th career college victory, in just 18 starts, broke the Stanford record of nine she had shared with Andrea Lee, an LPGA Tour winner who won nine times in 32 college starts.

   After opening with a sparkling 5-under-par 67 over the 6,519-yard, par-72 Papago layout, Zhang added a 4-under 68 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 69 that gave her a 12-under 204 total that was seven shots clear of runnerup Beth Coulter, an Arizona State freshman from Ireland.

   But it was Southern California, behind Zhang’s U.S. Curtis Cup teammate last summer at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, Amari Avery, a sophomore from Riverside, Calif. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, and Catherine Park, a freshman from Irvine, Calif., that claimed the team crown with a 15-under 849 total that was seven shots better than runnerup Oregon.

   For the Trojans, who moved up a notch in the Golfstat rankings from No. 14 to No. 13 in the aftermath of the Pac-12 Championship, it was their eighth conference crown and third in the last four playings. Stanford may be the No. 1 team in the country, but nobody in the Pac-12 concedes a thing to the Cardinal when Pac-12 Championship time comes around.

   The Trojans got the jump on the field with a 9-under 279 in the opening round. They added a 1-over 289 in the second round before closing with a 7-under 281.

   Avery and Park were two of the four players who finished in a tie for third place in the individual standings at 4-under 212.

   Avery opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in the second round before finishing up with a solid 3-under 69. Park was one of Zhang’s closest pursuers as she opened with a 3-under 69 and added a 2-under 70 in the second round that left her in a tie for second place in the individual chase, four shots behind Zhang going into the final round. Park closed with a 1-over 73.

   Oregon was the defending champion at Papago, having been something of a surprise a year ago on the Ducks’ home course at Eugene Country Club. But that turned out to be just the beginning of a postseason roll that didn’t stop until Oregon gave Stanford all it wanted in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Ducks matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 2-under 286 in the second round before closing with a solid 6-under 282 that left them seven shots behind Southern Cal in second place with an 8-under 856 total. Oregon moved up a notch in the Golfstat rankings from No. 9 to No. 8 following its runnerup finish in the Pac-12 Championship.

   The Ducks were led by Minori Nagano, a junior from Japan who landed in the foursome tied for third place at 4-under 212, a shot behind Arizona State’s Coulter. After opening with a 2-over 74, Nagano matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a sparkling 6-under 66, the low individual round of the tournament.

   Stanford was a shot behind Oregon in third place with a 7-under 857 total as the Cardinal opened with a 1-under 287 and added a 4-under 484 in the second round before closing with a 2-under 286.

   A repeat national championship once seemed like a foregone conclusion for Stanford, but an injury sidelined Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion the year before Zhang arrived on campus and still No. 16 in the Women’s WAGR. And Brooke Seay, a veteran senior and No. 52 in the Women’s WAFR with tons of experience didn’t tee it up at Papago.

   But Stanford still has Zhang and a lot of talented players. The Cardinal will still be a No. 1 seed somewhere when the NCAA regional assignments are handed out Wednesday. It will be interesting see who’s healthy enough to play when the regionals tee off May 8^th.

   The two Arizona teams, Arizona and Arizona State, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings as the Wildcats, who improved from No. 29 to No. 26 in the Golfstat rankings with their showing in the Pac-12 Championship, finished in fourth place with a 1-over 865 total and the No. 11 Sun Devils were fifth with a 7-over 871 total.

   Arizona opened with a 6-under 282 and added a 2-under 286 in the second round to grab a share of the team lead with Southern Cal going into the final round. The Wildcats backed off a little in the final round with a 9-over 297 to end up eight shots behind Stanford.

   Arizona State, behind individual runnerup Coulter, opened with a 2-over 290 and added a solid 2-under 286 in the second round before closing with a 7-over 295 to end up six shots behind its cross-state rival Arizona.

   After opening with a 1-over 73, Coulter added a 2-under 70 in the second round and closed with a 4-under 68 to finish seven shots behind Zhang in second place with a 5-under 211 total. That’s a runnerup finish in a conference brimming with talent.

   California finished five shots behind Arizona State in sixth place in the 11-team field with a 12-over 876 total. The Golden Bears, who dropped three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 36 to No. 39 in the aftermath of the Pac-12 Championship, matched par in the opening round with a 288 and added a 5-over 293 in the second round before closing with a 7-over 295.

   Malia Nam, a fifth-year player from Kailua, Hawaii, gave Southern Cal a third finisher inside the top 10 as she ended up in a tie for ninth place with a 2-under 214. Nam was the low Trojan in the opening round as she contributed a 4-under 68 to Southern Cal’s fast start. She added a 3-over 75 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   Nam was in the lineup for Southern Cal when it won Pac-12 crowns in 2019 and 2021.

   Cindy Kou, a sophomore from China, gave Southern Cal a fourth finisher in the top 20 as she landed in the group tied for 20^th place at 2-over 218. After opening with a 2-over 74, Kou carded a solid 1-under 71 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Christine Wang, a junior from Houston, Texas, got the call to join the lineup for the final round and came off the bench to deliver a critical 4-under 68.

   Joining Southern Cal’s Avery and Park and Oregon’s Nagano in the foursome tied for third place at 4-under 212 was Washington State’s Madelyn Gamble, a sophomore from Pleasant Hill, Calif. who sandwiched a 2-under 70 in the second round with a pair of 1-under 71s.

   UCLA’s Zoe Campos, a sophomore from Valencia, Calif., and California’s Annika Borrelli, a graduate student from Alamo, Calif., finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 3-unde 213.

   Campos was the picture of consistency, rattling off three straight 1-under 71s.

   Following the Pac-12 Championship, Campos and Southern Cal’s Avery made a mad dash to Houston -- The Woodlands, Texas to be specific -- as they were two of the seven amateurs who accepted invitations to tee it up in The Chevron Championship, the first major championship of 2023 in women’s professional golf.

   Campos bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 1-under 71 at The Club at Carlton Woods and missed the cut by two shots. The talented Avery played the weekend, surviving the cut and finishing in a tie for 45^th place with a 4-over 292 total. Pretty busy week for those two.

   Avery also made the cut after two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this spring and played the third round at one of the game’s shrines, the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece. Avery finished in a tie for 29^th place in her third appearance in what has quickly become one of the premier events for top amateur women players.

   Borrelli added a 2-under 70 in the second round to her opening-round 71 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Joining Southern Cal’s Nam in the tie for ninth place at 2-under was Oregon’s Anika Varma, a freshman from Roseville, Calif. who matched par in each of the last two rounds with a pair of 72s after opening with a 2-under 70.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas A&M edges Mississippi State in final to claim title as SEC Championship brings the drama

   You could make a case for any number of Southeastern Conference teams to be the one holding one of those iconic NCAA Championship trophies next month at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   But only one of those teams will enter the NCAA postseason as the SEC champion and after a weekend of drama at Greystone Golf & Country Club’s Legacy Course in Hoover, Ala. it was Texas A&M that claimed that title with a 3-2 victory over Mississippi State in the match-play final contested April 16^th.

   The Aggies, under second-year head coach Gerrod Chadwell, the husband of two-time major champion Stacey Lewis, were ranked No. 10 when they headed to Greystone and moved up to No. 6 in the aftermath of its victory over Mississippi State, the Bulldogs maintaining their lofty No. 5 ranking following their run to the SEC title match.

   All Texas A&M had to do to reach the SEC final was pass another gut check with an equally dramatic 3-2 victory over No. 4 South Carolina in the semifinals April 15^th while Mississippi State was edging defending SEC champion and No. 3 LSU, 3-2, in the other semifinal.

   It took Zoe Slaughter, a junior from Houston, 21 holes to finally pull out the clinching point for Texas A&M with a victory over Surapa Janthamunee, a freshman from Thailand, as Slaughter holed a four-footer for par on the par-3 17^th hole at the 6,301-yard, par-72 Legacy Course layout.

   Jennie Park, a senior from Carrollton, Texas and No. 69 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), had given Texas A&M a full point with a 6 and 5 victory over Izzy Pellot, a freshman from Orlando, Fla.

   Texas A&M’s other full point came from Hailee Cooper, a graduate student from Montgomery, Texas who earned a 2 and 1 decision over Hannah Levi, a senior from D’Ibarville, Miss. Cooper was on the tee at the 17^th hole, about to finish off her victory over Levi, when Slaughter and Janthamunee played the hole as the first extra hole of their match.

   Cooper was the junior player every college coach was after at the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in 2016, but she followed Kaitlyn Papp, her partner in the duo that captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship earlier that year at Streamsong, to Texas.

   Cooper’s career seemed to stall at Texas and, of course, there was that no small matter of the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying upheaval and when Papp turned pro, Cooper decided to start over again in College Station.

   Being part of an SEC championship team with the Aggies probably feels like a bit of validation for Cooper, who went 3-0 in the gauntlet of the SEC match-play bracket.

   Mississippi State got a full point from Julia Lopez Ramirez, a sophomore from Spain and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR who claimed a 2 and 1 win over Adela Cernousek, a sophomore from France.

   Two days earlier Lopez Ramirez had prevailed over probably the deepest field in Division I women’s golf to capture the SEC individual title with a 4-under 212 total.

   Mississippi State’s other full point in the SEC final was delivered by Abbey Daniel, a senior from Covington, La. who claimed a 2-up verdict over Blanca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a senior from Spain.

   A day earlier, it was Fernandez Garcia-Poggio going five extra holes before pulling out a win on the 23^rd hole over South Carolina’s Mathilde Claisse, a senior from France and No. 85 in the Women’s WAGR, to give Texas A&M a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Gamecocks.

   Texas A&M’s other two points came against a couple of tough customers as Park earned a 2 and 1 decision over Louise Rydqvist, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, and Cooper took down Hannah Darling, a sophomore from Scotland and No. 15 in the Women’s WAGR, with a 4 and 3 decision.

   Even in defeat, Cernousek was tough as it took 22 holes for Mia Sandtorv Lussand, a freshman from Germany, to earn a full point for South Carolina with a victory.

   South Carolina’s other full point came from Justine Fournand, a senior from France who earned a 2 and 1 win over Slaughter.

   Mississippi State punched its ticket into the title match with a 3-2 victory over an immensely talented and experienced LSU team that was highlighted by a stunning 5 and 4 victory for Levi over Ingrid Lindblad, a senior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Mississippi State’s other two points came from Janthamunee, who edged Carla Tejedo, a junior from Spain and No. 77 in the Women’s WAGR, and Daniel, who pulled out a 1-up decision over Aine Donegan, a sophomore from Ireland.

   Pellot battled LSU’s Edit Hertzman, a freshman from Sweden, to the 18^th hole before falling, 1-up. LSU’s other full point came from Latanna Stone, the Bayou Tigers other veteran senior from Riverview, Fla. and No. 36 in the Women’s WAGR as she pulled out a 2 and 1 victory over Lopez Ramirez, the Bulldogs’ freshly minted SEC individual champion.

   LSU had been typically tough in rolling to the top seed in the match-play bracket as the Bayou Tigers had finished atop the team leaderboard after 54 holes of qualifying for match play with a 6-over 870 total, 11 shots clear of Auburn, which remained at No. 7 in the Golfstat rankings in the aftermath of the SEC Championship.

   Texas A&M began its march to the SEC crown with a 4-1 victory over No. 21 Florida, one of four wonderful quarterfinal matchups in the morning of April 15^th. Cooper began her 3-0 run through the match-play bracket with a 3 and 2 victory over Karoline Tuttle, a freshman from Lake Mary, Fla.

   Slaughter earned a 3 and 2 decision over Marina Escobar, a senior from Spain, Fernandez Garcia-Poggio claimed a 4 and 3 victory over senior Annabell Fuller, a three-time GB&I Curtis Cupper from England and No. 44 in the Women’s WAGR, and Cernousek pulled out a 1-up victory over Jackie Lucena, a senior from Chico, Calif.

   Florida’s lone point came from Maisse Filler, a junior from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and No. 83 in the Women’s WAGR who took a 1-up verdict over Park.

   Mississippi State’s 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Vanderbilt was highlighted by Levi’s impressive 4 and 3 victory over Celina Sattelkau, a senior from Germany and No. 70 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Mississippi State’s other two points came from Daniel, who needed 21 holes to get past Tess Davenport, a senior from Duluth, Ga., and Janthamunee, who rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Tillie Claggett, a freshman from The Woodlands, Texas.

   Vanderbilt’s Lynn Lim didn’t seem to care that Lopez Ramirez had just won the SEC’s individual crown as Lim earned a full point for the Commodores with a 3 and 2 victory over the Mississippi State standout. Vanderbilt’s other full point came from Virginie Ding, a junior from China, who edged Pellot, 1-up.

   Vanderbilt, which was seeded fourth in the match-play bracket, moved up a couple of notches in the Golfstat rankings to No. 17 with its solid showing at Greystone.

   The outcome of qualifying for match play resulted in SEC women’s golf at its best in the other two quarterfinal matchups as top-seeded LSU earned a 3-2 victory over No. 16 Mississippi, the last SEC team to capture an NCAA crown two years ago at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., and South Carolina edged a really tough Auburn team, ranked No. 7, 3-2.

   In LSU’s victory, Hertzman edged Nicole Gal, a junior from Canada, 1-up, and then the veterans did their thing, Lindblad claiming a 4 and 2 decision over Natacha Host Husted, a sophomore from Denmark, and Stone earning a 1-up victory over Andrea Lignell a senior from Sweden and No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Lignell was coming off a third-place finish in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship earlier in the month while Stone ended up eighth, her second straight strong showing in one of women’s amateur golf’s premier showcases.

   Chiara Tamburlini, like Lignell, a veteran of Ole Miss’ national championship run two springs ago, earned a point for the Rebels with a 1-up win over Donegan. Tamburlini, a senior from Switzerland, is No. 42 in the Women’s WAGR.

   The feature match in the South Carolina-Auburn quarterfinal was a heavyweight showdown between Darling and Megan Schofill, a senior from Monticello, Fla. and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR who was the runnerup to Lopez Ramirez by a shot in the SEC’s individual chase. Darling, who I got to watch a little playing for GB&I in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match at Merion, rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Schofill.

   The Gamecocks’ other two points came from Claisse, who earned a 3 and 2 victory over Carys Worby, a redshirt freshman from Wales, and Sandtorv Lussand, who knocked off Anna Foster, a junior from Ireland and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR, 4 and 3.

   Auburn got its two points from Casey Weidenfeld, a redshirt freshman from Pembroke Pines, Fla. who captured a 5 and 3 victory over Fournand, and Katie Cranston, a freshman from Canada who pulled out a 1-up decision over Rydqvist.

   Greystone’s Legacy Course proved to be a difficult challenge in three days of qualifying for match play. LSU’s final round of 4-under 284 was the only team round under par and gave the Bayou Tigers a 6-over 870 total. LSU had opened with a 4-over 292 before adding a 6-over 294 in rain, cold and wind in the second round that gave it a three-shot lead over Auburn going into the final round.

   Auburn battled the tough conditions of the second round to post a 7-over 295 after opening with a 6-over 294 as it creeped withing three shots of front-running LSU. Auburn closed with a solid 4-over 292 to finish in second place with a 17-over 881 total that left it 11 shots behind LSU.

   The other six teams that comprised the match-play bracket were tightly bunched, separated by only nine shots.

   Texas A&M, the eventual champion, finished in third place with a 21-over 885 total as the Aggies opened with a 7-over 295 and struggled to a 301 in the second round’s difficult conditions before closing with a  1-over 289.

   Vanderbilt jumped out to the lead after matching par in the opening round with a 288. The Commodores struggled in the second round’s rain, cold and wind with a 308 before closing with a solid 3-over 291 that left them in fourth place with a 23-over 887 total.

   Mississippi State, behind individual champion Lopez Ramirez, finished three shots behind Vanderbilt in fifth place with a 26-over 890 total. The Bulldogs opened with a solid 4-over 292 and struggled along with everybody else in the second round with a 305 before finishing up with a 5-over 293.

   Lopez Ramirez salvaged her second round by finishing with three straight birdies for a 3-over 75 that left her five shots behind Auburn’s Schofill, whose 3-under 69 in the second round’s challenging weather was borderline brilliant, going into the final round.

   Lopez Ramirez, who had opened with a 3-over 69, was able to overtake Schofill with a final round of 4-under 68 that gave her the SEC individual title with a 4-under 212 total.

   Florida was a shot behind Mississippi State in sixth place with a 27-over 891 total as the Gators opened with a solid 2-over 290, struggled to a 309 in the second round and closed with a 4-over 292.

   South Carolina and Ole Miss nailed down the final two spots in the match-play bracket as they finished in a tie for seventh place in the 14-team field, each landing on 30-over 894.

   The Gamecocks opened with a 5-over 293, added a 302 in the second round and finished up with a 299. After opening with a 7-over 295, Ole Miss posted a 309 in the second round’s rain, cold and wind before closing with a solid 2-over 290.

   Donegan and Lindblad led the way for LSU as Donegan finished alone in third place, a shot behind Schofill with a 2-under 214 total while Lindblad was two shots behind her teammate in a tie for fourth place at even-par 216.

   After matching par with a 72 in the opening round, Donegan, the Irish woman, seemed to thrive in the second round’s miserable weather as she carded a 1-under 71 before finishing up with another 71. After opening with a 1-over 73, Lindblad matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   Stone gave the Bayou Tigers a third finisher in the top six as she finished among a trio of players tied for sixth place at 1-over 217. Stone opened with a solid 3-under 69 and added a 1-over 73 in the second round that left her just three shots behind Schofill going into the final round. Stone finished up with a 3-over 75.

   Tejedo had LSU’s best round in the final round, a sparkling 5-under 67, that left her in the group tied for 18^th place with a 7-over 223. Tejedo had struggled a little in the first two rounds with a pair of 6-over 78s.

   Rounding out the LSU lineup was Hertzman, who never really figured out the Legacy Course in three rounds of stroke play as she added a 7-over 79 in the second round to her opening-round 82 before closing with an 83 that left her alone in 66^th place with a 244 total.

   Schofill had opened with a 2-under 70 before her 3-under 69 in the difficult conditions of the second round gave her the individual lead going into the final round. Schofill closed with a 2-over 74 to finish a shot behind Lopez Ramirez in second place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Sharing fourth place with LSU’s Lindblad at even-par was Florida’s Escobar, who opened with a 1-under 71, matched par in the second round with a 72 and closed with a 1-over 73.

   Joining LSU’s Stone in the trio tied for sixth place at 1-over were Vanderbilt’s Sattelkau and Kentucky’s Laney Frye, a junior home girl from Lexington, Ky. and No. 67 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Sattelkau had the lead after opening with a 4-under 68, but struggled to a 5-over 77 in the second round’s tough conditions before matching par in the final round with a 72. Frye opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Texas A&M’s Park finished a shot behind Stone, Sattelau and Frye in ninth place with a 2-over 218 total as she sandwiched a 2-over 74 in the second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   A whole bunch of SEC teams are going to hear their names called when the NCAA reveals the fields for the regionals Wednesday on The Golf Channel and a lot of them will be serious contenders to win the whole thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clemson claims its first ACC crown with victory over Virginia in match-play final at Sedgefield

   Clemson could have been intimidated by the blue bloods it was facing in last week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

   But the Tigers were ranked No. 24 by Golfstat heading into the ACC Championship and you don’t get that high a ranking by accident.

   Still, there was Duke, seven times an NCAA champion and there was Wake Forest, ranked No. 2 and the defending ACC champion and there was a really strong Virginia team, ranked 22^nd, and there was No. 11 Florida State, which has captured NCAA regional team titles in each of the last two springs.

   There were players in the top 100 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and players with Curtis Cup experience all over the place.

   But Clemson’s players ignored all that stuff and just played golf. And when Isabella Rawl, a freshman from Lexington, S.C., finished off a tense 1-up victory Sunday over Virginia’s Megan Propeck, a sophomore from Leawood, Kan., it was Clemson celebrating the first ACC crown in program history with a 3.5-1.5 victory over the Cavaliers.

   Trust me, Wake Forest’s 3-2 loss to Virginia in the semifinals, which dropped three spots in the Golfstat rankings to No. 25 despite its run to the ACC title match, does not change the Demon Deacons’ goal of a deep run in the NCAA postseason.

   Virginia, too, is still planning to make a return trip to next month’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. And the Dookies, who rose from No. 31 to No. 27 in the Golfstat rankings following the ACC Championship, have every intention of making sure last spring’s showing, when the Blue Devils failed to get out of the NCAA regionals, is not repeated.

   It’s why the big conferences added a layer of match play to their championships because if you can finish among the top eight in stroke play at Grayhawk, you are suddenly thrust into the pressure-packed, always unpredictable world of match play. It’s quite literally a whole new ballgame and the ACC’s top teams were reminded of that at Sedgefield.

   Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, a sophomore from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 30 in the Women’s WAGR, capped off a huge week which saw her claim the ACC’s individual crown in record-breaking fashion with a 2 and 1 victory over Clemson’s Annabelle Pancake, a junior from Zionsville, Ind., that gave the Cavaliers what turned out to be their only full point of the title match.

   Virginia junior Jennifer Cleary, who starred scholastically at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del., got the half-point for the Cavaliers as she and Savannah Grewal, a senior from Canada, were tied through 15 holes when Clemson clinched its first ACC crown.

   But Clemson got full points from Melena Barrientos, a sophomore from Plano, Texas who claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Celeste Valinhos, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla., and Chloe Holder, a sophomore from Anderson, S.C., who completed a sweep of her two weekend matches with an impressive 4 and 3 win over Rebecca Skoler, a junior from Needham, Mass., to set the stage for Rawl’s clincher.

   A day earlier, Rawl and Holder came up with big match wins in the Tigers’ 3.5-1.5 semifinal victory over Duke as Rawl rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Megan Furtney, a senior from St. Charles, Ill., and Holder defeated Erica Shepherd, a senior from Greenwood, Ind. and No. 89 in the Women’s WAGR, 3 and 2.

   Four springs ago, Furtney and Shepherd teamed up to take the title in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. a few months before they matriculated at Duke.

   But the big win for Clemson came from Pancake, who pulled out a 3 and 1 verdict over Duke junior Phoebe Brinker, the Archmere Academy product who is No. 50 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Brinker, who had won the ACC title a year earlier, was coming off a scintillating 8-under 64 over the 6,092-yard, par-72 Sedgefield layout in the final round of qualifying for match play as she finished two shots behind Sambach in second place in a spirited defense of her ACC individual crown.

   Virginia, meanwhile, claimed a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Wake Forest in the other semifinal, the Cavaliers pulling out three 1-up victories.

   Wake Forest has a veteran lineup with three players who have teed it up in the last two editions of the Curtis Cup Match.

   And the two veterans of the U.S. teams that won both of those matches, in 2021 at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales and last summer at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township in Delaware County, Emilia Migliaccio, a graduate student from Cary, N.C. and No. 31 in the Women’s WAGR, and Rachel Kuehn, a senior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, accounted for the Demon Deacons’ two points.

   Migliaccio claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Cleary and Kuehn earned a 4 and 2 verdict over Valinho.

   But in the marquee match, probably of the whole weekend, Sambach, Virginia’s freshly minted ACC champion, edged Lauren Walsh, a senior from Ireland and No. 41 in the Women’s WAGR who represented Great Britain & Ireland at Conwy and at Merion, 1-up.

   Virginia’s Propeck pulled out an equally tense 1-up victory over Mimi Rhodes, a senior from England, and Skoler’s 1-up decision over Carolina Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, capped a dramatic upset win for the Cavaliers.

   A year ago, Migliaccio was at Grayhawk in her role as an intern for The Golf Channel, interviewing the stars of Stanford’s run to an NCAA title. Back for a sixth year at Wake Forest and seriously considering life as a career amateur, Migliaccio would like nothing more than to cap her brilliant college career by leading the Demon Deacons to an NCAA title.

   Wake Forest has proven its ability to win a 54-hole stroke-play event, having captured team titles in five tournaments during the wraparound 2022-2023 season.

   With Kuehn, Walsh and Rhodes finishing inside the top seven at Sedgefield, the Demon Deacons claimed the top seed for match play in the ACC Championship by eight shots over their arch-rival Duke.

   After opening with a 3-under 285, Wake Forest erupted for a sizzling 12-under 276 in the second round of the April 13^th double round to take command of the team chase. The Demon Deacons then closed with a solid 4-under 284 for a 19-under 845 total.

   Duke put together back-to-back 5-under 283s in the first two rounds to stay within striking distance of Wake Forest before closing with a 1-under 287 to finish eight shots behind the Demon Deacons in second place with an 11-under 853 total.

   Clemson showed it was there to play as the Tigers finished four shots behind Duke in third place with a 7-under 857 total. After opening with a 3-under 285, Clemson added a 5-under 283 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-over 289.

   Virginia grabbed the fourth and final spot in the match-play semifinals as the Cavaliers finished eight shots behind Clemson with a 1-over 865 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 288, the Cavaliers posted a 1-under 287 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 290.

   It was a probably a little disappointing fifth-place finish for Florida State as the Seminoles ended up 13 shots behind Virginia with an 878 total that left them out of the match-play bracket. Florida State, however, has saved its best work for the NCAA regionals the last couple of seasons.

   Florida State registered back-to-back 5-over 293s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   Kuehn led the way for Wake Forest in qualifying for match play as she finished four shots behind Duke’s Brinker in third place with an 8-under 208 total. Kuehn opened with a sparkling 6-under 66 and contributed a 2-under 70 to the Demon Deacons’ second-round surge before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Walsh finished in a tie for fifth place with her GB&I Curtis Cup teammate Charlotte Heath, a junior at Florida State from England and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, as both landed on 5-under 211. After opening with a 1-over 73, Walsh posted a solid 4-under 68 in the second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Rhodes finished alone in seventh place, a shot behind Walsh and Heath with a 4-under 212 total. After opening with a 2-over 74, Rhodes was the low Demon Deacon in Wake Forest’s strong second round with a 5-under 67 before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Migliaccio matched par in the opening round with a 72 and struggled a little in the second round with a 4-over 76 that the Demon Deacons were able to throw out before closing with a solid 1-under 71 as she finished in the group tied for 15^th place with a 3-over 218 total.

   Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup was Chacarra, who gave the Demon Deacons a fifth finisher inside the top 20 as she finished among the group tied for 19^th place with an 8-over 220 total. Chacarra struggled a little in the opening round with a 4-over 76 before contributing a counting 1-under 71 in the second round and finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Sambach was brilliant in qualifying for match play as her 14-under 202 total broke the ACC Championship record of 204 set in 200 4by Duke’s Brittany Lang, the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open champion at CordeValle.

   After opening with a 4-under 68, Sambach ripped off a 6-under 66 in the second round to take a two-shot lead over Wake Forest’s Kuehn into the final round. Sambach then sealed the deal with another solid 4-under 68 in the final round.

   Brinker opened defense of the individual title she won a year ago at the Reserve Golf Club at Pawleys Island in South Carolina with a 1-under 71 before adding a 3-under 69 in the second round.

   Then Brinker went off, lighting up the Sedgefield layout with eight birdies and an eagle in a brilliant final round of 8-under 64 that was a single-round record in the ACC Championship and left her two shots behind Sambach in second place with a 12-under 204 total.

   Clemson’s Pancake gave an indication of what was to come on the weekend as she finished a shot behind Wake Forest’s Kuehn in fourth place with a 7-under 209 total. Pancake posted back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Florida State’s Heath sandwiched a 1-under 71 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s to join her GB&I Curtis Cup teammate Walsh in a tie for fifth place at 5-under 211.

   Virginia Tech’s Morgan Ketchum of Winston-Salem, N.C. capped an impressive freshman season as she finished a shot behind Wake Forest’s Rhodes in eighth place with a 3-under 213 total. After matching par with a 72 in the opening round, Ketchum carded a 2-under 70 before closing with a 71.

   Senior Caroline Wrigley, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at North Allegheny in 2018, was a reserve for Notre Dame at Sedgefield and the Fighting Irish called on her for the final two rounds. Wrigley registered a 4-under 76 in the second round and a 78 in the final round.

   Notre Dame and North Carolina shared ninth place in the 12-team field, each landing on 30-over 894.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Penn State rallies to win team title in its Rutherford Intercollegiate for the eighth time in a row

   At No. 98 in the Golfstat rankings, it would seem unlikely that Penn State will get an at-large bid into the NCAA regionals.

   So, the 46^th Rutherford Intercollegiate, the Nittany Lions’ home tournament, held last weekend at Penn State’s Blue Course, had some added significance. Penn State had won the last seven playings of the Rutherford, so they it wanted to keep that streak going to salvage a little something from a season that hasn’t quite been what it had hoped it might be.

   Trailing Valparaiso, a Missouri Valley Conference representative, by five shots going into Sunday’s final round, the Nittany Lions, behind 3-under-par 68s from James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y., and senior Jimmy Meyers, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA Championship team, surged down the stretch to pull out a one-shot victory over the Beacons.

   The team title stretched Penn State’s winning streak in the Rutherford to eight in a row and marked the 30^th time the Nittany Lions have captured the team crown in their home event. The team success also marked the 75^th tournament win for long-time Penn State head coach Greg Nye.

   Penn State had opened with a couple of solid rounds in Saturday’s double round over the 7,171-yard, par-71 Blue Course layout, a 2-under 282 in the morning and a 1-over 285 in the afternoon.

   Valparaiso, though, had jumped in front by ripping off a solid 10-under 274 in Saturday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 4-over 288.

   But Penn State got it in red figures again in Sunday’s final round with another 2-under 282 for a 3-under 849 total. Valparaiso closed with a 4-over 288 to finish one frustrating shot behind the Nittany Lions with a 2-under 850 total.

   Allen was Penn State’s top individual finisher as he opened with a 2-under 69 and added a 1-over 72 before closing with his solid 68 that left him in a tie for fourth place with a 4-under 209 total. Meyers, who has had a really solid senior season, had opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 2-over 73 in Saturday’s second round before his closing 68 left him in a tie for sixth place with a 2-under 211 total.

   Valparaiso was led by a 2-3 individual finish from Anthony Delisanti, a sophomore from Sanborn, N.Y., and Caleb VanArragon, a senior from Blaine, Minn., respectively.

   Delisanti added a pair of 1-under 70s to his solid opening round of 4-under 67 to earn runnerup honors to individual champion Bryson Richards, a senior at Rhode Island from Plainfield, Vt. Delisanti and Richards both landed on 6-under 207 and Richards was awarded the individual title on a tiebreaker.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 71, VanArragon ripped off a sparkling 6-under 65, the low individual round of the tournament, that gave him a one-shot lead over his teammate Delisanti going into Sunday’s final round. VanArragon closed with a 1-over 72 to finish a shot behind Richards and Delisanti with a 5-under 208 total.

   Georgetown, out of the Big East Conference, had a strong showing as the Hoyas finished three shots behind Valparaiso in third place with a 1-over 853 total.

   After opening with a 1-under 283, Georgetown matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a 284 before closing with a 2-over 286.

   Rhode Island, out of the Atlantic 10, and Sun Belt Conference representative Appalachian State were another eight shots behind Georgetown in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 9-over 861.

   After opening with a 6-over 290, the Rams, behind individual champion Richards, matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a 284 before finishing up with a 3-over 287.

   After matching par with a 71 in the opening round, Richards registered solid back-to-back 3-under 68s to finish with a 6-under 207 total that earned him the individual crown in a tiebreaker.

   The Beacons were steady throughout the weekend as they opened with a 5-over 289 and added a 3-over 287 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-over 285.

   Delaware, gearing up for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, which tees off Sunday at Dataw Island’s Cotton Dike Course on St. Helena Island, S.C., finished in seventh place with a 17-over 869 total. The Blue Hens matched par in Sunday’s final round with a 284. They had opened with a 6-over 290 and added a 295 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.

   Temple, in its final tuneup before the American Championship, which tees off Friday at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., finished in 11^th place in the 12-team field with a 40-over 892 total. The Owls added a 12-over 296 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 295 before closing with a 301.

   Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md., gave Penn State a third top-10 finisher as he finished among the trio tied for 10^th place with an even-par 213 total. Griffin got off to a good start in Saturday’s double round as he opened with a 2-under 69 before matching par in the afternoon with a 71. Griffin finished up with a 2-over 73.

   Senior Patrick Sheehan, the 2018 District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East, finished in the group tied for 28^th place with a 6-over 219 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Sheehan carded a solid 2-under 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 5-over 76.

   Pretty sure Meyers and Sheehan will have the option to play for a fifth season to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the coronavirus pandemic, either at Penn State or somewhere else. It will be interesting to see whether either or both decide to play a fifth season.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was freshman Billy Pabst Jr., the runnerup in the 2021 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at North Pocono who finished in the group tied for 39^th place with a 221 total. Pabst, who has had a solid freshman campaign for the Nittany Lions, recorded a pair of 3-over 74s in Saturday’s double round before closing with a 2-over 73.

   With the Rutherford Intercollegiate at home, Nye used the opportunity to give some of his players a chance to compete as individuals.

   Jack Zubkus, a freshman from Ada, Mich., had a strong showing, joining his teammate Sheehan in the group tied for 28^th place at 6-over 219. After opening with a 5-over 76, Zubkus added a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Jud Langile, a junior from Ossining, N.Y., joined his teammate Pabst in the group tied for 39^th place with a 221 total as he added a pair of 2-over 73s in the final two rounds to his opening-round 75.

   Sophomore Morgan Lofland, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Conestoga, bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-over 73 to finish among the group tied for 46^th place with a 223 total.

   Penn State’s final tuneup for the Big Ten Championship will be this weekend’s Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State at its Scarlet Course, one of the finest on-campus golf courses in America. The Big Ten Championship tees off April 28 at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore.

   Joining Penn State’s Allen in the tie for fourth place at 4-under, a shot behind Valparaiso’s VanArragon, was Georgetown’s Peter DaGroot, a senior from Potomac, Md. who was only two shots out of the individual lead going into Sunday’s final round after carding a pair of 2-under 69s in Saturday’s double round. DeGroot matched par in the final round with a 71.

   DaGroot’s teammate, Charlie Creamean, a sophomore from Winnetka, Ill., joined Penn State’s Meyers in a tie for sixth place at 2-under as Creamean opened with a 2-under 69 and added a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 70.

   Connecticut’s Jared Nelson, a graduate student from Rutland, Vt., and California Baptist’s Eeli Kujanpaa, a sophomore from Finland, finished in a tie for eighth place in the individual standings, each landing on 1-under 212.

   After opening with a 1-over 72, Nelson recorded back-to-back 1-under 70s in the final two rounds. Kujanpaa opened with a solid 4-under 67 and added a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 2-over 73.

   Joining Penn State’s Griffin in the trio tied for 10^th place even par were Appalachian State’s Lukas Jonsson, a senior from Sweden, and his fellow Swede, Delaware freshman Casper Nerpin.

   After opening with a 2-over 73, Jonsson carded a pair of 1-under 70s in the final two rounds. Nerpin opened with a solid 3-under 68 and added a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-over 73.

   Backing up Nerpin for Delaware was Jack Halleron, a junior from Timonium, Md. who finished in the group tied for 25^th place with a 5-over 218 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Halleron matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a 71 before finishing up with a 2-over 73.

   Michael Bargenda, a senior from Poland, finished among the group tied for 34^th place for the Blue Hens with a 7-over 220 total as he matched par in the final round with a 71 after adding a 4-over 75 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 74.

   Sparky Ariyachatvakin, a junior from Thailand, finished in the group tied for 46^th place with a 223 total as he opened with a 3-over 74 and struggled to a 79 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before contributing a solid 1-under 70 to Delaware’s strong final-round performance.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Xiong Da, a sophomore from China who finished in 69^th place with a 231 total. Da struggled in the opening round with an 84 and added a 6-over 77 in Saturday’s second round, but, like Ariyachatvakin, Da saved his best for last, matching Ariyachatvakin’s final round of 1-under 70.

   Egor Zubov, a sophomore from Israel, competed as an individual for the Blue Hens and had a solid showing as he finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 220 total. Zubov matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round with a 71 after opening with a 3-over 74 before closing with a 75.

   Hugo Kedzlie, a senior from England, also competed as an individual for Delaware and ended up in the group tied for 46^th place with a 223 total as he bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a 1-over 72 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Temple was led by senior Conor McGrath, winner of the 2021 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Cedarbrook Country Club who finished in the group tied for 18^th place with a 4-over 217 total. McGrath, a product of the Academy of the New Church, played well in Saturday’s double round, adding a 1-over 72 in the afternoon to his opening round of 1-under 70 before closing with a 4-over 75.

   Graham Chase, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., backed up McGrath for the Owls as he landed in the group tied for 25^th place with a 5-over 218 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Chase had the best round of the weekend by a Temple player, a 2-under 69, in Saturday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 4-over 75.

   Ethan Whitney, a sophomore from Westminster, Mass., also had a decent showing for Temple as he finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 220 total. Whitney added a 75 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with a 1-over 72.

   Sophomore Joey Morganti, a Havertown resident who was a scholastic standout at St. Joseph’s Prep, finished in a tie for 72^nd place with a 239 total as he finished up with an 8-over 79 after recording a pair of 80s in Saturday’s double round.

   Rounding out the Temple lineup was Jake Naese, a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla. who finished in 75^th  place with a 241 total as he added an 81 in Saturday’s second round to his opening round of 7-over 78 before closing with an 82.

   Sophomore Greg Hanna, who starred scholastically at Bishop Shanahan, competed as an individual for Temple in the Rutherford Intercollegiate and finished in 74^th place with a 240 total. Hanna struggled in Saturday’s double round, adding an 84 in the afternoon to his opening-round 82, before turning things around in the final round with a 3-over 74.

   Redshirt sophomore Chuck Tragresser, the PIAA Class AAA runnerup in 2020 as a senior at Franklin Regional, had a solid showing for Rhode Island as he finished among the group tied for 39^th place with an 8-over 221 total. Tragresser added a 5-over 76 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 75 before finishing up with his best round of the weekend, a 1-under 70.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debusschere gets it going at Chesapeake Bay to claim a Junior Tour victory

   Strath Haven senior Tyler Debusschere made four birdies on the tough Chesapeake Bay Golf Club layout in Rising Sun, Md. Sunday on his way to a 2-over-par 73 that gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop.

   Debusschere, who capped an outstanding scholastic career with the Panthers by earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course last fall, made birdies at the third, eighth, 14^th and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard on his way to the Junior Tour victory.

   Aidan Farkas, an Ardmore resident and a junior at St. Joseph’s Prep, was a shot behind Debusschere in second place with a 3-over 74 as he opened his round with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes, added a third bird at 17 and had 10 pars on his card.

   Like Debusschere, Farkas earned a trip to the Class AAA state tournament last fall and finished in a tie for sixth place.

   Kennett junior Kasim Narinesingh-Smith made a birdie on the ninth hole and had 11 pars on his scorecard to finish in third place with a 5-over 76. He made seven of those pars in a row from the second to the eighth holes while matching par with a 35 on Chesapeake Bay’s outgoing nine.

   Like the two players who finished ahead of him on the 16-to-18 division leaderboard, Narinesingh-Smith earned a trip to Penn State for the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall.

   Noah Wallace of Elkton, Md. took fourth place with a 78, Avon Grove junior Tyler Sikorski was fifth with a 79 and Grady Adams of Yardley was sixth with an 81.

   Luke Evans, a junior at Radnor, Joshua Freeman of Middletown, Del. and Aiden Leary of Ambler finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 82.

   Evans’ teammate on the Radnor High golf team, sophomore Will Walsh, rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished in 10^th place with an 84.

   Keegan Redmond of Hummelstown made birdies on the fourth and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 4-over 75 to earn a Junior Tour victory.

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. had 11 pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 80. Declan Conner of Swarthmore also had 11 pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Joiner in third place with an 81.

   Yaejoon Wee of Chesterbrook and Joseph Gangemi Jr. of Downingtown shared fourth place, each carding an 82, Avery O’Neill of Romansville was sixth with an 83 and Henry Nowak of Wilmington, Del. and P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh, each landing on 84.

   Trey Barkman of West Chester took ninth place with an 85 and Benjamin Robbins of Holland and Braydon Jakatt of Coatesville rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each registering a 90.

   The best score of the day among the girls came from the only entry in the 16-to-18 division as Kylie Yiengst of Wyoming, Del. made a birdie on the fourth hole and had five pars on her scorecard on her way to an 84.

   Giulia Weisser of Reading had six pars on her scorecard as she claimed top honors in the 13-to-15 division with an 88.

   Zuzu Campbell of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had four pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 96. Maia Alinskas of Millsboro, Del. took third place as she had four pars on her card on her way to a 104.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Emma Gangemi of Downingtown’s Team Gangemi as she finished in fourth place with a 115.

   Nathan Lobo of Collegeville had two pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 7-over 42.

   Ben Meixell of Wilmington, Del. made birdies on the second and sixth holes and had a par at eight as he took second place, a shot behind Lobo with a 43.

   Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring and Jaxson Refold of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 46. Both players recorded back-to-back pars on the sixth and seventh holes to highlight their rounds.

   Jacob Russell of Wilmington, Del. took fifth place with a 47, Preston Minio of Lansdale was sixth with a 48, Jia Yan of Malvern was seventh with a 53 and Benjamin Gangemi, another member of Downingtown’s Team Gangemi, was eighth with a 54.

   Zheng Yan, another member of Malvern’s Team Yan, ended up in ninth place with a 57 and Bruno Peri of Glen Mills rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished in 10^th place with a 66.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tappeiner rock solid down the stretch as he claims a Junior Tour victory at Middletown

   Luke Tappeiner of Northfield, N.J. put together a solid 4-over-par 73 at Middletown Country Club to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division Saturday and claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory.

   Tappeiner made a birdie on the fourth hole and had 12 pars on his scorecard. Tappeiner was really solid in closing out the victory as he rattled off eight straight pars from the 10^th through the 17^th holes on the incoming nine at the par-69 Middletown layout.

   Matthew Morris of Haddonfield, N.J. also made a birdie at the fourth hole and had eight pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 8-over 77 that left him three shots behind Tappeiner.

   Strath Haven sophomore Davis Fairbanks had 10 pars on his card, including a stretch of six in a row from the fourth through the ninth holes to finish in third place with an 83.

   Johan Tuerff of West Chester and Sean Mariano of Lansdale shared fourth place, each landing on 87, West Chester Rustin sophomore Nick Linkchorst took sixth with a 90, Kasimere McManus of Quakertown was seventh with a 91 and Campbell Swart of Southampton, N.J. was eighth with a 93.

   Joe Rigolizzo of Radnor took ninth place with a 94 and Emmett Phillips III of Langhorne rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 108.

   Charles Carney of Levittown made a birdie on the fourth hole and had nine pars on his scorecard as he earned a victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 9-over 78.

   Jack Luterman of Ardmore matched Carney’s birdie at the fourth hole, added another birdie at 17 and had four pars on his card as he finished in second place with an 82.

   Haverford School freshman Sean Curran made a birdie on the eighth hole and had nine pars on his card, six of them on Middletown’s incoming nine, as he finished in third place with an 83.

   Liam McFadden of Bryn Mawr and Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. shared fourth place, each landing on 87 and Joseph Solt of Kunkletown and Chase Gillie of Newtown ended up in a tie for sixth place, each recording a 90.

   Ty Sheftic of Blue Bell took eighth place with a 91 and Zachary Daniels of Bryn Mawr was ninth with a 94.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Radnor High freshman Brad McDermott and Carter Hippauf of Quakertown as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each carding a 96.

   Archbishop Wood senior Lola Barnett, who made her second straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, captured top honors in the girls 16-to-18 division as she had seven pars on her scorecard on her way to an 82.

   Germantown Academy sophomore Kiran Bagga made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had four pars on her card as she finished in second place with a solid 87. Mia Jackson of Villanova had back-to-back pars on the third and fourth holes as she finished in third place with a 102.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Lea Babio of Quakertown as she finished in fourth place with a 126.

   Much of Saturday was a continuation of last week’s suddenly summer-like temperatures, but scattered thunderstorms hit Bucks County particularly hard late in the afternoon and the girls in the 13-to-15 division got chased off the golf course after completing 15 holes.

   Zoey Zhu of Basking Ridge, N.J. finished first among the younger girls with a 16-over 73 for 15 holes. Zhu had six pars on her scorecard, including five pars in a row from the fifth through the ninth holes.

   Elayne Fanelli of Villanova had two pars as she finished six shots behind Zhu in second place with a 79. Amelia Nace of Furlong took third place as she had three pars on her card on her way to an 81.

   Kasey O’Brien of Linwood, N.J. took fourth place with an 88, Mariana Walker of Richboro was fifth with a 92 and Christina St. Pierre of Yardley rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she was sixth with a 105.

   Trebor Melendez of Vineland, N.J. made a birdie on the second hole and had five pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a solid 2-over 37.

   Jason Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. made a birdie at the seventh hole and had four pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Melendez in second place with a 3-over 38. Henry Sokol of Villanova had four pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 41.

   Rayan Shah of Newtown took fourth place with a 42, William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr was fifth with a 44 and Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring and John (Jack) Shea of Harleysville shared sixth, each landing on 48.

   David Padgett of Barnegat, N.J. took eighth place with a 46 and Adam Revness of Yardley was ninth with a 47.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division was Jack Sokol, another member of Villanova’s Team Sokol, as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 48.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hitchner claims individual crown, leads Pepperdine to team title in Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo

   Pepperdine looks like it’s headed for another run deep run in the NCAA postseason.

   The Waves have been among men’s college golf’s elite for the last four years. They were ranked No. 1 by Golfstat and led by Sahith Theegala – you know, the guy who finished in ninth place in The Masters last week -- when the wraparound 2019-2020 season ended prematurely with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. A year later, Pepperdine stood atop the college golf world, hoisting one of those iconic trophies emblematic of an NCAA champion.

   A year ago, the Waves returned to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., the scene of their 2021 championship run, and reached the semifinals before falling to Arizona State.

   Derek Hitchner, a graduate student from Minneapolis, Minn. and No. 41 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), has been there for all of it, so it was probably fitting that his individual title in the 76^th Western Intercollegiate, the first of a stellar college career, led Pepperdine to the team crown, in one of last really big regular-season tournaments contested at Pasatiempo Golf Club, the highly-regarded Alister MacKenzie design in Santa Cruz, Calif.

   The field tells you it’s a big event, the golf course tells you it’s a big event and 76 years of history tells you it’s a big event. But if that’s not enough, the fact that The Golf Channel cameras were rolling seals it. Pepperdine used a team win in the Western Intercollegiate as a springboard to its run to an NCAA crown in 2021.

   The Pepperdine lineup is loaded with guys who transferred to take the extra year granted to them by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. But Hitchner and William Mouw, a senior from Chino, Calif. and No. 7 in the WAGR, have been there all along and it looks like they’re ready for another postseason run.

   Hitchner opened with a 2-under-par 68 over the 6,514-yard, par-70 Pasatiempo layout and then added a sizzling 6-under 64 in Tuesday’s second round that left him in third place, a shot behind teammate Sam Choi, a graduate student from Anaheim, Calif. and No. 42 in the WAGR, going into Wednesday’s final round. Hitchner closed with a 1-over 71 for a 7-under 203 total that left him one shot clear of the field.

   Not sure if it was weather conditions or course setup, probably a little of both, but the course appears to have played considerably more difficult in Wednesday’s final round.

   The tournament was played with a six-score-five format as opposed to the usual five-score-four, giving coaches an opportunity to see some of their guys in action before they are forced to narrow their lineups to just five players for the NCAA regionals to come.

   Pepperdine, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, opened with a 5-under 345 before unleashing a tournament-record smashing 22-under 328 in Tuesday’s second round. Pepperdine erased California’s previous single-round record of 16-under 334, established a day earlier, by six shots and the Waves’ 36-hole total of 27-under 673 also established a tournament record.

   Pepperdine, a perennial West Coast Conference power, closed with an 11-over 361 for a 16-under 1,034 total that was nine shots better than runnerup Oregon, a Pac-12 power ranked 22^nd. The Ducks opened with a sparkling 15-under 335 and added a 2-over 352 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 6-over 356 for a 7-under 1,043 total.

   Oregon was led by Owen Avrit, a senior from Arroyo Grande, Calif. and No. 85 in the WAGR who earned a share of runnerup honors in the individual chase with UNLV’s Yuki Moriyama, a junior from Japan, as each landed on 6-under 204, a shot behind Hitchner.

   Avrit was tied for the lead with Choi going into the final round as he added a 4-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 5-under 65 before cooling off a little in the final round with a 3-over 73.

   Another Pac-12 entry, No. 51 California, briefly held the tournament’s single-round record with its opening round of 16-under 334. But the Golden Bears couldn’t maintain their momentum from that sizzling start as they added a 12-over 362 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 354 that left them in third place, seven shots behind Oregon with an even-par 1,050 total.

   At No. 7, the Pac-12’s Stanford, was the highest-ranked team in the field, but it was a little bit of a disappointing fourth-place finish for the Cardinal as they finished 18 shots behind their rival Cal with an 18-over 1,068 total.

   Stanford got off to a great start with an 11-under 339, but backed off with a 9-over 359 in Tuesday’s second and a final round of 20-over 370.

   Pepperdine’s West Coast Conference rival, No. 44 BYU, and No. 24 Colorado State, out of the Mountain West Conference, finished a shot behind Stanford in a tie for fifth place in the 14-team field, each landing on 19-over 1,069.

   After opening with a 2-over 352, the Cougars put together a solid 10-under 340 in Tuesday’s second round before struggling with a 377 in the final round. The Rams matched BYU’s opening round of 2-over 352 and added a 9-over 359 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with an 8-over 358.

   Choi, who transferred to Pepperdine after being a four-year standout at New Mexico, backed up Hitchner as he finished alone in fourth place with a 5-under 205 total. Choi took a share of the lead into the final round after adding a 5-under 65 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 66 before cooling off in the final round with a 4-over 74.

   Mouw, like Hitchner, a veteran of this golden era of golf at Pepperdine, finished in 13^th place with a 1-under 209 total as he carded back-to-back 1-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Luke Gifford, a graduate student from Boca Raton, Fla. who transferred to Pepperdine after a standout career at South Florida, was another shot behind Mouw in a tie for 14^th place at even-par 210. Gifford added a 3-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before finishing up with a 4-over 74.

   Ian Maspat, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif., gave Pepperdine a fifth finisher inside the top 20 as he ended up among the group tied for 19^th place with a 3-over 213 total. After opening with a 3-over 73, Maspat recorded a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Roberto Nieves was Delaware’s best player the last few years before the Miami, Fla. native transferred to Pepperdine for his fifth year of eligibility. Nieves struggled in the opening round and the final round with a pair of 77s at Pasatiempo.

   But Nieves found the magic in Tuesday’s second round, proving to be a valuable sixth man as he matched the single-round Western Intercollegiate record with a scintillating 7-under 63 that sparked the Waves to their record-setting team performance. Nieves finished in the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 217 total.

   UNLV’s Moriyama had three rounds in the 60s to get his share of second place with Oregon’s Avrit as he added a 3-under 67 to his opening-round 68 before closing with a solid 1-under 69.

   California’s Sampson Zheng finished a shot behind Choi in fifth place with a 4-under 206 total as he opened with a sparkling 4-under 66 before twice matching par with a pair of 70s in the final two rounds.

   Seven players finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-under 208, including a pair of Colorado State players in Christoph Bleier, a sophomore from Austria, and Davis Bryant, a graduate student from Aurora, Colo.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 70, Bleier registered back-to-back 1-under 69s in the final two rounds. Bryant opened with a 3-under 67 and matched par with a 70 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Avrit’s Oregon teammate, Greg Solhaug, a junior from Norway, also landed at 2-under as he fired an opening salvo of 6-under 64 and struggled a little with a 5-over 75 in Tuesday’s second before finishing up with a solid 1-under 69.

   Moriyama’s UNLV teammate, Caden Fioroni, a junior from San Diego and No. 53 in the WAGR also joined the group-at 2-under as he was just three shots out of the lead heading into the final round after adding a sparkling 4-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 68. Fioroni backed off a little with a 4-over 74 in the final round.

   Zheng’s California teammate, Aaron Du, a junior from China, joined the group at 2-under as he matched the Western Intercollegiate single-round individual record with his opening round of 7-under 63. Du cooled off with a 4-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Rounding out the bulky group tied for sixth place were California-Irvine’s Darien Zhao, a junior from San Diego, Calif., and BYU’s Keanu Akina, a junior from Kahuku, Hawaii.

   Zhao opened with a sparking 3-under 67 and added a 68 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-over 73. Akina was just three shots out of the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 68 in Tuesday’s second round to a strong 4-under 66 with which he opened. Akina backed off a little with a 4-over 74 in Wednesday’s final round.

   Interesting name in the Stanford lineup as Nate Menon, a sixth-year player who was the winner of the PIAA Class AA individual crown as a junior at Wyomissing in 2015, finished in the group tied for 22^nd place with a 4-over 214 total.

   Menon matched par in the opening round with a 70 before carding back-to-back 2-over 72s in the last two rounds.

   Menon was a member of Stanford’s 2019 national championship team, although he wasn’t in the lineup for the regionals or at the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. He made a strong case for inclusion in the lineup for the Cardinal four years later when they head for the NCAA regionals.