Yermish makes college debut as part of starting lineup for Michigan in Mary Fossum Invitational

 

   Sidney Yermish, the best high school golfer in Pennsylvania during a standout four-year career at Lower Merion, made their college debut in the Michigan starting lineup in the Mary Fossum Invitational, hosted by cross-state and Big Ten rival Michigan State at Forest Akers Golf Club’s West Course in East Lansing, Mich.

   Yermish identifies as they/them rather than she/her pronoun-wise, so I’m doing my best to honor that preference, in case you think my grammar was a little off-base in that first paragraph.

   Pronouns aside, Yermish won the title in the last two PIAA Class AAA Championships and was a three-time District One Class AAA winner. They might have made it four if not for some of the political implications from the coronavirus pandemic.

   Yermish earned a spot in the starting lineup for a Michigan team that includes the likes of Monet Chun, a senior from Canada who lost in the final of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. in 2022, and Hailey Borja, a fifth-year player from Trabuco Hills, Calif. who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. in 2021.

   Chun was the Big Ten’s individual champion and led Michigan to the first conference championship in program history in the spring of 2022 at Fox Chapel Golf Club outside of Pittsburgh.

   Yermish made their debut a solid one last Sunday at the Mary Fossum as they opened with a solid 1-over-par 73 over the 6,370-yard, par-72 Forest Akers West Course layout, but struggled a little in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with an 80.

   Yermish, who reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in July at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., then closed with a 76 in Monday’s final round to finish among the group tied for 49^th place with a 13-over 229 total.

   Among the players who joined Yermish at 229 was Chun, who closed with a 77 after posting a pair of 4-over 76s in Sunday’s double round.

   Borja led the way for Michigan as she was one of six players tied for ninth place with a 2-over 218 total. Borja opened with a solid 3-under 69 and added a 76 in Sunday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Michigan opened with a solid 4-over 292, but struggled to a 306 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 301 that left the Wolverines in 10^th place in the 15-team field with a 35-over 899 total.

   Michigan was left looking up at four conference rivals that made up the first four finishers in the team standings as perennial Big Ten power Purdue captured the team crown with a 6-under 858 total, host Michigan State was the runnerup with a 4-over 868 total, Ohio State was third with a 15-over 879 total and Maryland was fourth with a 17-over 881 total.

   It seemed like it was only a matter of time before second-year head coach Zack Byrd, who replaced the legendary Devon Brouse at Purdue last year, would have the Boilermakers back among the top programs in the country.

   Byrd recruited many of the key players that comprised a somewhat surprising national championship run by Mississippi in 2021. It was the first national championship for a women’s team in any sport at Ole Miss.

   After opening with a 2-over 290, the Boilers carded a solid 4-under 284 in Sunday afternoon’s second round, but still trailed host Michigan State by eight shots heading into Monday’s final round. But Purdue posted a second straight 284 in the final round while the Spartans struggled to a 302. Purdue was the only team to finish under par with its 6-under total.

   Michigan State added a 7-under 281 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to its opening round of 3-under 285 to build that eight-shot lead. But the final-round 302 left the Spartans 10 shots behind Purdue in second place at 4-over.

   Michigan State wasn’t completely shut out as the Spartans’ Jersey girl, Katie Lu, a junior from Plainsboro, captured the individual crown, edging Purdue’s Ashley Kozlowski, a senior from Littleton, Colo., by a shot.

   Lu took control of the individual race as she added a 3-under 69 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening round of 2-under 70. Lu finished up with a 2-over 74 to end up with a 3-under 213 total.

   Kozlowski trailed Lu by five shots entering the final round as she added a 1-under 71 to her opening-round 73. Kozlowski closed with a 2-under 70, but couldn’t quite catch Lu with her 2-under 214 total.

   Ohio State, under Lisa Strom, the 1994 PIAA champion as a senior at Lansdale Catholic, is another program looking to make some noise on the national level. And in Strom, a standout as a player with the Buckeyes, Ohio State has the person in charge who will make that happen.

   The Buckeyes trailed Michigan State by 15 shots going into the final round after they added a 1-over 289 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to their opening round of 4-over 292. Ohio State closed with a 10-over 298 to finish 11 shots behind Michigan State at 15-over.

   Maryland closed with a solid 1-over 289 to finish two shots behind Ohio State in fourth place at 17-over. The Terrapins had opened with an 11-over 299 before improving to a 5-over 293 in Sunday afternoon’s second round.

   Tennessee, out of the tough Southeastern Conference, finished three shots behind Maryland in fifth place with a 20-over 884 total. The Volunteers added a 4-over 292 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to their opening-round 293 before closing with an 11-over 299.

   Purdue finished with four players in the top 10. Kan Bunnabodee, a fifth-year player from Thailand, backed up Kozlowski as she finished among a trio of players tied for fourth place at even-par 216. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Bunnabodee recorded a 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Jocelyn Bruch, a senior from Carmel, Ind., finished in a tie for seventh place for the Boilers with a 1-over 217 total. After struggling a little with an opening-round 76, Bruch tallied a 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.

   After two years at Vanderbilt, junior Natasha Kiel, the New Hope gal who was a scholastic standout at George School, surfaced at Purdue and finished with Michigan’s Borja in the group tied for ninth place at 2-over 218. Kiel sandwiched an even-par 72 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Rounding out the Purdue lineup was Mamo Sugiyama, a junior from Australia who finished among the group tied for 19^th place with a 5-over 221 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Sugiyama struggled to a 79 in the second round before finishing strong with a 2-under 70 in the final round.

   Michigan State also got a strong individual performance from Leila Raines, its veteran senior from Galen, Ohio who was the only other player to finish under par as she finished a shot behind Purdue’s Kozlowski in third place with a 1-under 215 total.

   Raines sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Joining Purdue’s Bunnabodee in the tie for fourth place at even-par 216 were Tennessee’s Vanessa Gilly, a senior from Venezuela, and Ohio State’s Kary Hollenbaugh, a sophomore from New Albany, Ohio.

   Gilly was the picture of consistency, posting three straight even-par 72s at the Forest Akers West Course. Hollenbaugh opened with a 1-under 71, matched par in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a 72 and closed with a 1-oiver 73.

   Joining Purdue’s Bruch in the tie for seventh place at 1-over 217 was Kent State’s Leon Takagi, a sophomore from Japan who closed with a sparkling 3-under 69 to make her move up the leaderboard. Takagi opened with a 1-over 73 before adding a 75 in Sunday afternoon’s second round.

   Also in the sixsome tied for ninth place at 2-over was Ohio State’s Caley McGiniy, a redshirt senior from England who is No. 42 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). McGinty, who began her college career playing for Strom at Kent State, was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup teams that fell to the United States in 2021 at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales and again in 2022 at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township.

   After opening with a 4-over 76, McGinty carded a pair of 1-under 71s in the final two rounds.

   Rounding out the group of six players at 218 were Kent State’s Hester Sicking, a freshman from the Netherlands, and a couple of sophomores from Thailand, Maryland’s Nicha Kanpai and Tennessee’s Monassanan Chotikabhukkana.

   Sicking recorded a pair of 1-over 73s in Sunday’s double round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   After opening with a 4-over 76, Kanpai matched par in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 2-under 70. Chotikabhukkana matched par in the opening round with a 72 before tallying a pair of 1-over 73s in the final two rounds.

   Junior Riley Quartermain, who starred scholastically at Haverford, competed as an individual for Atlantic Coast Conference entry North Carolina and finished among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 230 total. Quartermain added a 4-over 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to her opening-round 75 before finishing up with a 79.

   The Tar Heels finished in ninth place, just ahead of Michigan in the team standings, with a 26-over 890 total.