Behind co-medalist Woad, Florida State edges ACC rivals Duke, North Carolina to claim title in Landfall Tradition

 

   Atlantic Coast Conference powers Florida State, North Carolina and Duke all advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. out of their respective regionals, but none really made a run at being one of the final eight teams that decided the national championship in match play.

   The three teams battled it out for the team crown in the Landfall Tradition, annually one of the top women’s college golf events of the late fall which wrapped up Sunday at the Country Club of Landfall’s Dye Course in Wilmington, N.C.

   Florida State, behind Lottie Woad, a junior from England and the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), overtook Duke and North Carolina in a final round that featured rain and wind along the North Carolina coast, to capture the team title with a 2-under 862 total.

   The Dookies took a five-shot lead over Florida State and North Carolina into Sunday’s final round as they opened with a sparkling 9-under 279 and added a 5-under 283 in Saturday’s second round to get it to 14-under.

   But the difficult conditions of the final round resulted in a 13-over 301 for Duke as the Blue Devils finished a shot behind Florida State with a 1-under 863 total. Still, Duke was one of just two teams to finish the weekend under par over the 6,178-yard, par-72 Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall.

   Florida State had matched Duke’s opening round of 9-under 279 before matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 288 that left the Seminoles five shots behind the Blue Devils.

   But Alexandra Gazzoli, a freshman from Palm Coast, Fla., delivered a clutch 1-under 71 in the final round to lead Florida State to a final round of 7-over 295 and a 2-under 862 total.

   Woad’s considerable talent was on display for Florida State as she opened with a sizzling 7-under 65, matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 and closed with a solid 1-over 73 to share medalist honors with North Carolina State’s Lauren Olivares Leon, a senior from Mexico and No. 85 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on 6-under 210.

   Woad has put together quite a 2024. After winning the title in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship in April, she was the runnerup in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship at La Costa. Woad was a member of the winning Great Britain & Ireland team, which captured the Curtis Cup for the first time in eight years with a hard-fought 10.5-9.5 victory over the United States at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England.

   The win in the Landfall Tradition was the fourth of Woad’s collegiate career.

   North Carolina was solid all weekend as the Tar Heels opened with an 8-under 280, added a 6-under 282 in Saturday’s second round and closed with a 10-over 298 to finish two shots behind Duke in third place with a 1-over 865 total.

   North Carolina was led by Megan Streicher, a junior from South Africa and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in fourth place with a 3-under 213 total, and Helen Yeung, a freshman from Clarksville, Md. who finished among a group of five players tied for fifth at 2-under 214 total.

   Streicher opened with a solid 4-under 68, matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 and finished up with a 1-over 73. Yeung opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before struggling a little in the rain and wind of the final round with a 4-over 76.

   Mississippi, out of the Southeastern Conference, finished a shot behind North Carolina in fourth place with a 2-over 866 total as the Bulldogs opened with a 6-under 282, matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 288 and closed with an 8-over 296, one of the best team rounds of the day.

   Ole Miss captured the team crown as a three seed in the Bermuda Run Regional last spring, but never got it going in the NCAA Championship at La Costa.

   Central Florida, in its second season in the Big 12, finished two shots behind Mississippi in fifth place with a 4-over 868 total. After opening with a 6-over 294, the Knights bounced back with a 5-under 283 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 3-over 291, easily the best team score of the final round.

   UCF failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a five seed at the Bermuda Run Regional last spring.

   North Carolina State, behind the individual champion Olivares Leon, finished four shots behind UCF in sixth place with an 8-over 872 total. The Wolfpack opened with a 3-over 291, added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round and closed with a 7-over 295, one of the better team rounds in the final round.

   Olivares Leon bettered par each day on the Dye Course as she opened with a 3-under 69, added a 2-under 70 in the second round and finished up with a solid 1-under 71 to get a share of medalist honors with Woad at 6-under 210. It was the third career collegiate victory for Olivares Leon.

   Clemson, another ACC power, and Michigan State, out of the Big Ten, finished in a tie for seventh place, each ending up two shots behind N.C. State with a 10-over 874 total.

   The Tigers opened with a 1-under 287 and added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round before struggling to a 301 in the final round. Clemson was the only ACC team to reach the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring, the Tigers falling to Southern California in the quarterfinals.

   The Spartans bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 291 with a 7-under 281 in Saturday’s second round before struggling in the final round with a 302. Michigan State advanced to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring as a five seed out of the East Lansing Regional on its home course.

   Penn State, another Big Ten entry, closed out its fall campaign by finishing in 16^th place in the tough 17-team field with a 61-over 925 total. The Nittany Lions opened with a 310, had their best round of the weekend, a 303, in Saturday’s second round and finished up with a 312.

   Backing up Woad for Florida State was Sophia Fullbrook, a freshman from England who ended up among a trio of players tied for 22^nd place with a 2-over 218 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Fullbrook carded a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 3-over 75.

   Kaylah Williams, a senior from South Africa, finished in a tie for 25^th place for the Seminoles with a 3-over 219 total as she, like Fullbrook, added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to an opening round of even-par 72. Williams then closed with a 4-over 76.

   Christina Surcey, a freshman from Cartersville, Ga., finished in the group tied for 27^th place with a 4-over 220 total. Surcey opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 76.

   Gazzoli was a third freshman in the Florida State lineup and she came up big with her final round of 1-under 71. Gazzoli had struggled a little in the first two rounds with a pair of 3-over 75s and ended up among the group tied for 37^th place with a 6-over 222 total.

   SEC power South Carolina didn’t send its whole team, but Sophia Burnett, a graduate student from Bluffton, S.C., competed as an individual in the Landfall Tradition and finished in third place in the individual standings with a 4-under 212 total that left her two shots behind the co-medalists, Woad and Olivares Leon.

   Burnett held the individual lead going into the final round after she added a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 68. Burnett struggled in the tough conditions of the final round as she closed with a 5-over 77.

   Sharing fifth place with North Carolina’s Yeung at 2-under were Michigan State’s Brooke Biermann, a senior from Wildwood, Mo., Furman’s Audrey Ryu, a sophomore from Dublin, Ohio, and Duke’s talented sophomore, Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J.

   Biermann bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70 that matched Ryu for the low round of the day. Ryu had matched par in the first two rounds with back-to-back 72s before closing with her 2-under 70.

   Li was only two shots behind Burnett entering the final round as she opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 and added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round. Li struggled in the final round’s wind and rain and finished up with a 5-over 77.

   Anna Canado Espinal, a freshman from Spain, and Andie Smith, a junior from Hobe Sound, Fla., gave Duke two more finishers inside the top 10 as they ended up among a group of four players tied for ninth place at 1-under 215.

   Canado Espinal matched par in the final two rounds with back-to-back 72s after opening with a 1-under 71. Smith got off to a solid start, adding a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round to her opening-round 69. Smith backed off a little with a 3-over 75 in the final round.

   Rounding out the quartet tied at 1-under were Olivares Leon’s N.C. State teammate Marie Eline Madsen, a freshman from Denmark, and UCF’s Mila Sunne, a freshman from France.

   Madsen sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s. After opening with a 3-over 75, Sunne recorded a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 71.

   Duke senior Rylie Heflin, a product of the Tower Hill School and a resident of Avondale, Chester County, finished among the group tied for 37^th place with a 6-over 222 total. Heflin, winner of the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship in 2023, matched par in each of the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before closing with a 6-over 78.

   Penn State was led by Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun, a talented freshman from Thailand who has been the Nittany Lions’ best player this fall. Jiratthitinun matched par in the opening round and added a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round before closing with an 80 that left her among the group tied for 59^th place with an 11-over 227 total.

   I had wrapped up the early part of the fall portion of Penn State’s 2024-2025 schedule, but the Nittany Lions were coming off a 10^th-place finish out of 14 teams in the Evie Odom Invitational at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va. in early October.

   Jirratthitinun had led Penn State in the Evie Odom as she finished in a tie for 11^th place in the individual standings with a 3-over 213 total.

   In the Landfall, Drew Nienhaus, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., backed up Jiratthitinun as Nienhaus finished among the group tied for 63^rd place with a 228 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Nienhaus added a 75 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 76.

   Senior Michelle Cox, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus, bounced back from an opening-round 82 with a pair of 5-over 77s in the second and third rounds, respectively, to end up among a trio tied for 84^th place with a 236 total.

   Jami Morris, a senior from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, finished in 91^st place with a 242 total as she sandwiched an 84 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 79s.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was freshman Gwen Powell, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at North Pocono who finished in 95^th place with a 248 total. Powell struggled in the opening round on a pretty big stage with an 89, but bounced back with a 4-over 76 in Saturday’s second round before closing with an 83.