Nicholas leads the way as Drexel opens spring campaign with victory in Advance Golf Partners Collegiate

   The Drexel Dragon emerged from a long winter’s nap breathing fire.

   Opening the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season at the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Hammock Creek Golf Club in Palm City, Fla., Drexel pulled out a three-shot victory over host North Carolina Greensboro.

   Drexel was led, as usual, by talented junior Drue Nicholas, the St. Augustine Prep product from Egg Harbor Township, N.J. who finished in a tie for second place in the individual standings behind runaway winner Nick Lyerly, a UNCG graduate student from Salisbury, N.C.

   But head coach Ben Feld’s Dragons also got two other top-10 finishes as Griffin Mitchell, a junior from New Albany, Ohio ended up alone in fifth place and Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a junior from Zimbabwe, landed among a trio of players tied for ninth place.

   It all started with Nicholas, though, as his first competitive round of the spring was a spectacular 6-under-par 66 over the 7,169-yard, par-72 Hammock Creek layout. Sunday’s opening round was played in difficult conditions with the winds of a Florida February howling, none of which seemed to bother Nicholas.

   Nicholas started his college career on the fast track toward a pro career at Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina State. But he changed his plan with a focus on a career in finance and came home to Drexel, where he has been the best Division I college player in the Philadelphia area for more than a year now.

   Gaining some momentum from a dramatic playoff victory over BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Michael R. Brown Jr. in the Patterson Cup, one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships, at St. Davids Golf Club in August, Nicholas had a strong fall campaign at Drexel.

   Nicholas closed out the fall with a runnerup finish in the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate at Kilmaric Golf Club in Powells Point, N.C. in defense of the individual crown he had won there a year earlier and then claimed medalist honors with a 3-under 69 at Tavistock Country Club in leading the Dragons to the team crown in the City 6 Championship.

   Nicholas was still atop the leaderboard after carding a 4-under 68 at Hammock Creek in Monday’s second round, a shot clear of Lyerly, who is No. 91 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and blitzed the Hammock Creek layout with a sizzling 8-under 64 in the second round.

   Nicholas ran out of gas a little in Tuesday’s final round, but his 5-over 77 still left him in a tie for second place, seven shots behind Lyerly with a 5-under 211 total.

   Nicholas’ strong opening round helped Drexel post a 5-over 293. A 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round left the Dragons tied for second place, three shots behind UNCG, a Southern Conference representative that began the week at No. 50 in the Golfstat rankings, but fell back to No. 59 in the aftermath of the Advance Golf Partners.

   With Mitchell, among others, picking up Nicholas by recording a final round of 4-under 68, Drexel, No. 126 in the Golfstat rankings, closed with a 5-under 283 to finish with a 1-under 863 total.

   UNCG closed with a 1-over 289 as the Spartans earned runnerup honors with a 2-over 866 total.

   “What an unbelievable moment for the entire Drexel golf family,” Feld, who earned himself a trip to the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. last summer, told the Drexel website. “Our guys work so hard and care so deeply about our purpose and each other. We knew we were going to have some level of rust coming out of our winter, but we committed to one another that we were going to be the toughest and scrappiest team in the field this week and we fought like crazy until the end.

   “Our guys are confident and to beat that field in our first event of the spring reconfirms that all of the goals we have set are fully within our reach. So proud of these incredible young men. We’ve just got to keep getting a little better each day.”

   There is really only one goal for a Colonial Athletic Association team like Drexel: Win the team title at the CAA Championship and earn a guaranteed spot in an NCAA regional.

   The Dragons were a distant third behind conference champion College of Charleston last spring at the Dataw Island Club’s Cotton Dike Course on St. Helena Island, S.C. and six shots behind runnerup UNCG. Nicholas finished in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings.

   There’s a long road to this spring’s CAA Championship, which returns to Dataw Island in late April, but Drexel’s victory in the Advance Golf Partners this week is definitely a stop in the right direction.

   Behind Lyerly’s spectacular 64 in the second round, UNCG surged with a 6-under 282 that gave the Spartans a three-shot lead over Drexel and Butler heading into Tuesday’s final round, but they were unable to hold off the charge by the Dragons.

   A couple of Big East entries, DePaul and Butler, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings as the Blue Demons finished in third place, three shots behind UNCG with a 5-over 869 total, and the Bulldogs were fourth, another four shots behind DePaul with a 9-over 873 total.

   DePaul opened with a 9-over 297 and added a 4-over 292 in Monday’s second round before closing with the best team round of the tournament, an 8-under 280.

   Butler had the lead after matching par in the opening round with a 288 and was tied for second place with Drexel after adding a 4-over 292 in Monday’s second round. The Bulldogs finished up with a 5-over 293.

   Another CAA entry, Elon, was a shot behind Butler in fifth place with a 10-over 874 total as the Phoenix bounced back from an opening-round 303 with a 1-over 289 in Monday’s second round before closing with a solid 6-under 282 in the final round.

   Elon was led by Matt Doyle, a sophomore from Summerville, S.C. who recorded a sparkling 7-under 65 in the final round to get a share of second place with Drexel’s Nicholas.

   It was also the spring opener for Villanova, another Big East entry, and the Wildcats, the runnerup to Drexel in the City 6 Championship at Tavistock last fall, finished in 13^th place in the 19-team field with a 35-over 899 total. Villanova had a little trouble shaking off the rust from the midseason pause as it added a 304 in Monday’s second round to an opening-round 303 before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   It was a strong showing for Mitchell as he registered back-to-back 1-over 73s in the first two rounds before that final-round 68 that was so critical for Drexel and left him alone in fifth place with a 2-under 214.

   After opening with a 3-over 75 in the tough opening-round conditions, Nyamukondiwa carded a solid 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 71 that earned him a top-10 finish, his even-par 216 total leaving him a tie for ninth place.

   Brockton English, a sophomore from Shelby Township, Mich., struggled a little in the first two rounds, adding a 76 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 79 before finishing up with a 2-over 74 that left him in the group tied for 70^th place with a 229 total. All three of English’s scores, however, were counters for the Dragons.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup was Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah who transferred to Drexel from Utah. Maxfield also struggled in the first two rounds at Hammock Creek, adding an 80 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 86. But Maxfield came up huge in the final round with a 2-under 70 that was crucial to putting Drexel over the top.

   Senior Liam Hart, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep, competed as an individual for Drexel and finished in a tie for 50^th place with a 10-over 226 total. After opening with a solid 2-under 70, Hart posted a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round before struggling to an 81 in the final round.

   Lyerly represented UNCG as an individual in the NCAA Palm Beach Regional last spring and made a splash by grabbing the lead following an opening round of 5-under 67 at PGA National’s Champions Course.

   Lyerly trailed Drexel’s Nicholas by five shots at Hammock Creek after opening with a 1-under 71, but crept within a shot of Nicholas with his 8-under 64 in Monday’s second round. Lyerly closed with a solid 3-under 69 for a 12-under 204 total.

   Elon’s Doyle had opened with a 3-over 75 and added a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before his fast finish enabled him to get a share of second place with Nicholas at 5-under.

   Samford’s Matthew Smith, a freshman from Oklahoma City, Okla., finished a shot behind Nicholas and Doyle in fourth place with a 3-under 213 total as he matched par with a 72 in the opening round, added a 71 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70.

   Three players – Valparaiso’s Caleb VanArrogan, a senior from Blaine, Minn., Butler’s Damon Dickey, a sophomore from Franklin, Ind., and Queens University of Charlotte’s Ollie Smith, a senior from England – finished a shot behind Drexel’s Mitchell in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 1-under 215.

   VanArragon bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70. Dickey opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Ollie Smith added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 71 before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Joining Drexel’s Nyamukondiwa in the trio tied for ninth place at even-par 216 were DePaul’s Artemly Yalovenko, a senior from Russia, and Old Dominion’s Jakob Henriksson, a junior from Sweden.

   Yalovenko added a 75 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before finishing strong with a 4-under 68. Henriksson added a solid 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Leading the way for Villanova was Ryan Pamer, a freshman from Hudson, Ohio who is coming off a strong start to his college career in the spring. After opening with a 75, Pamer added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72 that left him in the group tied for 18^th place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Peter Weaver, a senior from Frontenac, Mo., also had a solid week for the Wildcats as he finished among the group tied for 24^th place with a 5-over 221 total. Weaver carded a 1-under 71 in the tough opening-round conditions, added a 76 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-over 74.

   Jonathan Elkins, a junior from South Deerfield, Mass., bounced back from an opening-round 79 by posting back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds to finish in the group tied for 45^th place with a 225 total.

   Vimal Alokam, a sophomore from Ypsilanti, Mich., finished in the group tied for 91^st place with a 235 total as struggled to an 82 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 78 before closing with his best round of the week, a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the Villanova lineup was Jason Lohwater, a graduate student from Rochester, N.Y. who finished in the group tied for 107^th place with a 240 total. Lohwater, who transferred to the Main Line after a four-year career at Bucknell, struggled in the first two rounds, adding an 84 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 83, but found his groove in the final round with a solid 1-over 73.

   Kyle Kinnane, a graduate student from Anaheim Hills, Calif. who transferred to Villanova after a four-year career at Loyola Marymount, and Josh Lavely, a freshman from Kewadin, Mich., competed as individuals at Hammock Creek.

   Kinnane added a 79 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 77 before struggling to a final-round 87 that left him in a tie for 112^th place with a 243 total. Lavely’s best round was a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round. He opened with an 83 and closed with an 85 to finish a shot behind Kinnane in the group tied for 114^th place with a 244 total.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delavallade leads the way as Penn State finishes fourth in Columbia Classic

   Penn State junior Mathilde Delavallade of France struggled a little in the opener of the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season for the Nittany Lions as she finished in 71^st place in the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando.

   But Delavallade bounced right back this weekend, opening the Columbia Classic at Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, Fla. with a 3-under-par 69. The Columbia Classic was scheduled to be a three-round event, but Sunday’s second round was washed out by heavy rain and windy conditions.

   The Penn State guys got in the final round of the VyStar Credit Union Gators Invitational Sunday in Gainesville, Fla., but the rain that went south of Gainesville did not miss Melbourne, which is on Florida’s East Coast, just below Orlando.

   Delavallade closed with a 3-over 75 in chilly and windy conditions in Monday’s final round to finish in a group of four players tied for sixth place with an even-par 144 total over the 6,357-yard, par-72 Duran layout and help Penn State end up with an encouraging fourth-place finish in the team standings.

   This is probably Penn State’s best team since the senior trio of Jackie Rogowicz, Cara Basso and Lauren Waller wrapped up their careers in the spring of 2019. Getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals has been elusive for Penn State, which plays out of the Big Ten.

   That 2018-’19 team entered the Big Ten Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio ranked 49th, but an 11^th-place finish in the team standings probably cost the Nittany Lions a chance to make it to regionals.

   Four years later, Penn State was No. 70 in the latest Golfstat rankings going into the Columbia Classic. In addition to Delavallade, head coach Denise St. Pierre’s starting lineup included fifth-year players Taylor Waller, Lauren’s younger sister and, like her big sis, a product of Canon-McMillan, and Sarah Willis of Eaton, Ohio as well as senior Isha Dhruva of Katy, Texas.

   Making a run at an NCAA Regional appearance will be a big hill for this group to climb, but Penn State certainly has some experience. And its fourth-place finish in the Columbia Classic was a step in the right direction.

   The highest-ranked team in the Columbia Classic, No. 31 Texas Tech out of the Big 12, claimed the team crown, the Red Raiders overcoming reigning Ivy League champion Princeton, ranked 72^nd, in Monday’s final round with a 3-under 285 that gave them a 5-under 571 total.

   Texas Tech had recorded a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s opening round and trailed the Tigers by four shots as Princeton opened with a solid 6-under 282, the low team round of the weekend. Princeton added a 6-over 294 in Monday’s final round to finish five shots behind the Red Raiders in second place with an even-par 576 total.

   Three players shared medalist honors in the individual chase at 2-under 142, Texas Tech’s Anna Dong, a senior from China, and a pair of Princeton players, Catherine Rao, a freshman from Camarillo, Calif., and Victoria Liu, a sophomore from Canada.

   Dong closed with a solid 2-under 70 after matching par in the opening round with a 72 to claim the first individual title of her career.

   Liu was tied for the lead with two other players, including Penn State’s Delavallade, after carding a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s opening round. She added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s final round to get a share of the title, the fourth of her career, including the individual Ivy League crown she won last spring at the Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, N.J.

   Rao had opened with a 1-over 73, but came on strong with a 3-under 69, the only sub-70 round of Monday’s final round, to get her share of the individual title, the first of her career.

   Texas Tech and Princeton both teed it up in the NCAA Stanford Regional last spring, the Red Raiders getting an at-large berth and the Tigers punching their ticket by capturing the Ivy League title.

   Tulsa, an American Athletic Conference entry and No. 34 in the Golfstat rankings, finished four shots behind Princeton in third place with a 4-over 580 total. The Golden Hurricane closed with a solid 2-under 286 after registering a 6-over 294 in Saturday’s opening round.

   Penn State added a 5-over 293 in Monday’s final round to its opening round of 7-over 295 to finish eight shots behind Tulsa in fourth place with a 12-over 588 total.

   No. 87 Notre Dame, out of the tough Atlantic Coast Conference, finished a shot behind Penn State in fifth place with a 13-over 589 total. The Fighting Irish added a 6-over 294 in Monday’s final round to their opening-round 295.

   Texas Tech had a couple of freshmen who contended for the individual title as Shannon Tan of Singapore and No. 68 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and Lauren Zaretsky of Canada finished in a tie for fourth place, a shot behind the top three with a 1-under 143 total.

   Tan carded a 1-under 71 in Monday’s final round after matching par in the opening round with a 72. Zaretsky opened with a 2-under 70 and then finished up with a 1-over 73.

   Texas Tech’s Gala Dumez, a junior from France, matched par in the opening round with a 72 and finished up with a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 14^th place with a 2-over 146 total.

   Rounding out the Texas Tech lineup was Chiara Horder, a sophomore from Germany who finished in a tie for 18^th place with a 3-over 147 total. After opening with a 4-over 76, Horder contributed a crucial 1-under 71 to the Red Raiders’ strong finish in Monday’s final round.

   Texas Tech also got a strong showing from Cecilie Nielsen, a senior from Denmark who competed as an individual and finished among a group of four players tied for 10^th place with a 1-over 145 total. Nielsen matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-over 73 in Monday’s final round.

   Joining Penn State’s Dellavallade in the quartet tied for sixth place at even-par 144, a shot behind Texas Tech’s Tan and Zaretsky, were a pair of Notre Dame players, Montgomery Ferreira, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., and Chloe Schiavone, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., and Tulsa’s Sydney Seigel, a sophomore from Phoenix, Ariz. Ferreira, Schiavone and Seigel each matched par with 72s in both rounds.

   Joining Texas Tech’s Nielsen in the quartet tied for 10^th place in the individual standings were a pair of Tulsa players, Lily Thomas, a senior from Bentonville, Ark., and Grace Kilcrease, a freshman from Springdale, Ark., and Princeton’s Tiffany Kong, a senior from Canada.

   Thomas, who represented Tulsa while competing as an individual in the NCAA Stillwater Regional last spring, finished up with a 1-under 71 in Monday’s final round after opening with a 74. Kilcrease matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-over 73.

   Kong opened with a solid 1-under 71 before finishing up with a 2-over 74 in Monday’s final round.

   Backing up Dellavallade for Penn State was Waller, who closed with a solid 1-under 71 after opening with a 75 to finish among the group tied for 14lth place with a 2-over 146 total.

   Dhruva bounced back from an opening-round 76 by matching par in Monday’s final round with a 72 as she gave Penn State a third finisher inside the top 20, ending up in the group tied for 20^th place with a 4-over 148 total.

   Willis posted a pair of 3-over 75s to finish in the group tied for 29^th place with a 6-over 150 total.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Drew Nienhaus, a sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., as she recorded a pair of 4-over 76s for an 8-over 152 total that left her in the group tied for 36^th place.

   Sophomore Michelle Cox, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a high school standout at Emmaus, competed as an individual in the Columbia Classic. After struggling to an 87 in Saturday’s opening round, Cox bounced back with a 3-over 75 in Monday’s final round to finish in the group tied for 65^th place with a 162 total.

   Notre Dame senior Caroline Wrigley, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at North Allegheny, also struggled in the opening round with an 83, but bounced back with a 2-over 74 in Monday’s final round to finish among the group tied for 54^th place with a 157 total. Wrigley began her college career at Furman before transferring to Notre Dame.

   Richmond, out of the Patriot League, finished in ninth place in the team standings with a couple of Philadelphia region players in the starting lineup. The Spiders added a 306 in Monday’s final round to their opening-round 309 for a 39-over 615 total.

   Freshman Hannah Lydic, the Sussex Academy product coming off a solid start to her college career for Richmond in the fall, bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a solid 1-over 73 in Monday’s final round to finish in the group tied for 41^st place with a 153 total.

   Sophomore Lauren Jones, who won the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship in the spring of 2021 to cap an outstanding career at Episcopal Academy, opened with a 6-over 78 and added an 81 in Monday’s final round to finish in a tie for 60^th place with a 159 total for Richmond.

   Horizon League representative Youngstown State, with a couple of former scholastic standouts from western Pennsylvania in the lineup, finished in 12^th place in the 14-team field as the Penguins added a 312 in Monday’s final round to their opening-round 316 for a 628 total.

   Junior Madie Smithco, the PIAA Class AA champion in 2017 and again in ’18 while playing for North Catholic, finished in the group tied for 41^st place with a 9-over 153 total. Smithco bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a 1-over 73 in Monday’s final round.

   Senior Danae Rugola was a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Uniontown, finishing in a tie for second place behind Wrigley as a junior in 2018. Rugola added an 84 in Monday’s final round after opening with an 81 to finish in the group tied for 69^th place with a 165 total for Youngstown State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbin heads foursome of recent GAP junior standouts in the individual standings at Gators Invitational

   Got a chance to catch some of the final of the 2019 Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship at Coatesville Country Club.

   It featured a battle between Austin Barbin and Patrick Sheehan, neither of whom hit it like juniors. The cozy confines of Coatesville, a really neat old-style layout, but one that only measures a little over 6,200 yards, was nearly too short to contain the games Barbin and Sheehan put on display.

   When Barbin, a member of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., went off in the middle of the scheduled 18-hole match, going 6-under for a stretch of six holes, he rolled to a 5 and 4 victory, just one of several trophies Barbin put his name on in a dominant summer of junior golf.

   Not that Sheehan, who had claimed the District One Class AAA crown the previous fall as a senior at Central Bucks East, had a bad summer. He would win the title in the Jock MacKenzie, another of GAP’s major championships for junior players, at Sandy Run Golf Club and earned the Harry Hammond Award, a stroke-play crown for juniors that combines scores from qualifying for match play for the Junior Boys, the Christman Cup and the Jock MacKenzie.

   The next three GAP Junior Boys crowns went to Norristown’s Josh Ryan, the last of which happened last summer at Bala Golf Club. Ryan, who followed Sheehan as the District One Class AAA individual champion in 2019, defeated Morgan Lofland, a two-time Central League champion at Conestoga, in the GAP Junior Boys final in 2021 at Overbrook Golf Club.

   That foursome of recent stars on the GAP junior circuit and local scholastic scene were all in action in the VyStar Credit Union Gators Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday at host Florida’s Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

   Barbin and Ryan were in the lineup for Liberty, No. 37 in the latest Golfstat rankings, helping the Flames, an ASUN power, finish in fourth place in the team standings with a 5-over-par 846 total over the 6,701-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick layout.

   Sheehan shared medalist honors for Penn State, ranked 93^rd, while Lofland struggled a little as the Nittany Lions, out of the Big Ten, finished in a tie for seventh place with No. 59 Stetson, each landing on 27-over 867.

   Barbin began his college career at Maryland, but then followed older brother Zach, winner of two of GAP’s major championships, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup in the coronavirus pandemic summer of 2020, to Liberty. Zach and Austin both contributed to Liberty’s run to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring.

   Austin Barbin opened with a 4-under 66 in the first round of a scheduled double round Saturday in the Gators Invitational. The weather started to turn considerably cooler and windier with lightning forcing the suspension of the second round.

   Barbin completed a 1-over 71 in the second round before closing with a 75 that left him among the group tied for 11^th place with a 2-over 212 total.

   Ryan took a gap year before joining the Liberty program last fall and by the end of the fall portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season, he had earned a spot in the starting lineup for the Flames.

   Ryan got the spring portion of the season off to a nice start with a 3-under 67 in Saturday’s opening round. He struggled in the second round with a 76 before closing with a 73 that left him in the group tied for 24^th place with a 6-over 216 total.

   Liberty was right there with eventual champion Florida, the Southeastern Conference power that is No. 8 in the Golfstat rankings, with an opening round of 9-under 271. The Flames struggled a little in the last two rounds, posting a 3-over 283 in the second round before finishing up with an 11-over 291. Their 845 total was 29 shots behind Florida.

   The Gators are so deep that their B team finished second with an even-par 840 total.

   Sheehan, a senior who represented Penn State as an individual in the NCAA’s Columbus Regional last spring, also got off to a good start at the Mark Bostick Golf Course with a solid 2-under 68. He added a 2-over 72 in the second round before closing with a 73 that left him in the group tied for 14^th place with a 3-over 213 total.

   Lofland, a sophomore, struggled a little in the Gators Invitational. After opening with a 5-over 75, he added a 79 in the suspended second round and ended up with an 82 in the chilly and windy conditions of Sunday’s final round as he finished alone in 74^th place with a 236 total.

   Penn State opened with a solid 2-under 278 in Saturday morning’s first round, but the Nittany Lions struggled in the deteriorating weather conditions, adding a 293 in the second before finishing up with a 296.

   Of course, nobody was going to really challenge host Florida, which won its home tournament for the 29th time with a 14-under 826 total. The Gators matched Liberty’s solid opening round with a 9-under 271 and held it together with a solid 4-under 276 in a second round that started Saturday afternoon and finished up Sunday.

   A final round of 1-under 279 enabled the Gators to finish at 14-under.

   Florida was led by its star senior Ricky Castillo, the Yorba Linda, Calif. native who is No. 27 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and who won the individual crown in a playoff with Georgia Southern’s Mason Williams, a fifth-year player from Bridgeport, W.Va. who is No. 92 in the WAGR.

   Castillo went 4-0 for the United States in a hard-fought 14-12 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in a Walker Cup Match staged in the middle of the college postseason at the iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. in May of 2021.

   It was Castillo’s second win in the Gators Invitational – he made it bookends at Mark Bostick having captured the title as a freshman in 2020 – and his third individual college victory overall.

   Castillo matched the 7-under 63 he shot when he won the event in 2020 in the second round after opening with a 3-under 67 and took a one-shot lead over Williams into the final round.

   Castillo closed with a 1-under 69 and Williams registered a 2-under 68 to catch Castillo and force the playoff. Castillo’s par on the first hole of the playoff gave him the title, the 18^th time a Florida player has won the individual crown in the Gators Invitational.

   Florida’s B team was the closest pursuer for the Gators’ first five. After matching par with a 280 in the opening round, the second-stringers put together the best team round of the weekend with an 11-under 269 that drew it within two shots of Florida’s first five heading into the final round.

   Florida’s B team closed with an 11-over 291 to finish 14 shots behind Florida’s first five in second place with an even-par 840 total.

   It is that kind of depth that makes the Gators a player on the national scene every spring. Florida fell to eventual national semifinalist and current No. 1 team in the country Vanderbilt in the SEC title match last spring and then advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk out of the Palm Beach Regional.

   Florida made it to the final day of qualifying for match play at Grayhawk, but came up a little short of earning a spot among the eight teams in the match-play bracket.

   Behind individual runnerup Williams, No. 25 Georgia Southern finished four shots behind Florida’s B team in third place with a 4-over 844 total.

   The Eagles lost to Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference match-play final last spring and then earned a ticket to Grayhawk with a fifth-place finish as an eight seed at the New Haven Regional.

   Georgia Southern only trailed Florida’s first five by six shots going into the final round of the Gators Invitational after adding a 4-under 276 in the second round to its opening-round 277. The Eagles closed with an 11-over 291 to end up at 4-over.

   Behind Liberty in fourth place were a couple of solid Florida entries, No. 35 North Florida, one of Liberty’s ASUN rivals, and American Athletic Conference power South Florida, ranked 88^th, in fifth and sixth, respectively.

    The always underrated ASUN champion Ospreys, coming off a runnerup finish to Vanderbilt as the host team in The Hayt last weekend, opened with a 2-over 282 and added a 5-under 275 in the second round before struggling in the final round with a 296 that left them eight shots behind Liberty with a 13-over 853 total.

   South Florida finished a shot behind North Florida with a 14-over 854 total as the Bulls added a 1-under 279 in the second round to their opening-round 285 before closing with a 290.

   North Florida and South Florida both made it to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring, the Ospreys advancing out of the New Haven Regional as a seven seed and the Bulls, the runnerup to SMU in the American, advancing out of the Palm Beach Regional as a seven seed.

   Stetson, another ASUN entry, shared seventh place with Penn State in the 14-team field, both teams finishing 13 shots behind South Florida at 27-over. The Hatters added a 2-over 282 in the second round to their opening-round 285, but struggled to a 300 in Sunday’s final round.

   Backing up Castillo for Florida’s top team was Yuxin Lin, a senior from China who finished alone in fourth place with a 4-under 206 total. After opening with a 2-under 68, Lin posted back-to-back 1-under 69s in the final two rounds.

   Fred Biondi, a senior from Brazil and No. 16 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for sixth place in the individual standings with a 1-under 209 total. Biondi, the individual champion in Gators Invitational a year ago, opened defense of his title with a sparkling 5-under 65. He backed off with a 73 in the second round before finishing up with a 1-over 71.

   John DuBois, a senior from Windermere, Fla., finished alone in 23^rd place with a 5-over 215 total as he added a 3-over 73 in the second round to his opening-round 72 before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Rounding out Florida’s first five was Matthew Kress, a redshirt freshman from Saratoga, Calif. who finished among the group tied for 24^th place with a 7-over 217 total. Kress carded back-to-back 1-over 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 75.

   Tyler Wilkes, a junior from Tampa, Fla., led the way for Florida’s B team, finishing in third place in the individual standings with a 6-under 204 total that was five shots out of the playoff between Castillo and Williams for the title.

   Wilkes, though, made his case for a spot in Florida’s starting lineup as he contributed a sparkling 4-under 66 to the Florida B team’s second-round surge after he had matched par in the opening round with a 70. Wilkes finished up with a 2-under 68.

   North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik, a junior from Trinity, Fla. and No. 14 in the WAGR, finished a shot behind Florida’s Lin in fifth place with a 3-under 207 total. Gabrelcik, coming off a runnerup finish in The Hayt at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., only trailed Castillo by three shots going into the final round after adding a 5-under 65 in the second round to his opening-round 68.

   But Gabrelcik struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 74.

   Gabrelcik’s fellow Osprey, Robbie Higgins, a junior from Bradenton, Fla., joined Florida’s Biondi in a tie for sixth place at 1-under 209, two shots behind Gabrelcik.

   Higgins opened with a solid 3-under 67, matched par in the second round with a 70 and finished up with a 2-over 72.

   South Florida’s Sam Nicholson, a junior from Atlantic Beach, Fla., finished alone in eighth place, ending up at even-par 280 as he added a 1-under 69 in the second round to his opening-round 68 before closing with a 3-over 73.

   Nicholson’s South Florida teammate, Jake Peacock, a graduate student from Milton, Ga., and another member of Florida’s B team, Giovanni Manzoni, a fifth-year player from Italy, rounded out the top 10 in the individual standings as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 1-over 211.

   After opening with a 1-over 71, Peacock twice matched par with a pair of 70s in the final two rounds. Manzoni matched those splits, adding back-to-back even-par 70s in the final two rounds to his opening-round 71.

   Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md., shared medalist honors for Penn State with Sheehan for the weekend as he ended up in the group tied for 14^th place with a 3-over 213 total.

   Looks like Griffin was tied for the lead with Florida’s Biondi following the opening round as Griffin got off to a fast start with a sparkling 5-under 65. Griffin backed off with a 76 in the second round before finishing up with a 2-over 72.

   Backing up the top two for the Nittany Lions was James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y. who finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a an 8-over 218 total. Allen carded a pair of 1-over 71s in the double round that wasn’t completed until Sunday morning and then finished up with a 6-over 76.

   Senior Jimmy Meyers, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, finished in a tie for 54^th place for Penn State with a 223 total. Meyers registered a pair of 4-over 74s in the double round that started Saturday and finished up Sunday and then closed with a 75.

Lofland rounded out the Penn State lineup with his finish in 74^th place with a 236 total.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wake Forest takes title in another shootout at UCF Challenge; UCF's Nordfors captures individual crown

    It’s hard to call the 2021-2022 season a disappointment for Wake Forest.

   The Demon Deacons claimed an Atlantic Coast Conference championship and you can’t take that trophy away from them. They advanced out of the NCAA’s Franklin Regional to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. and then they hit the wall.

   The goal for any team at Wake Forest’s level is to get into match play at the NCAA Championship and the Demon Deacons had some accomplished match-play players in their lineup. They just didn’t get there. And that, I’m quite sure, left them disappointed.

   For the trio of Rachel Kuehn, a senior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 8 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Lauren Walsh, a senior from Ireland and No. 66 in the Women’s WAGR, and Emilia Migliaccio, a graduate student from Cary, N.C. and No. 29 in the Women’s WAGR, this spring will be one last shot to put together a run at a national championship.

   Migliaccio won a match in Wake Forest’s 3-2 loss to Duke in the Final Match of the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. It seems like a long, long time ago.

   Wake Forest came out of the fall portion of the 2022-’23 season at No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings. Even if No. 1 Stanford seems almost unbeatable, the Demon Deacons would love to give it their best shot against anyone, even the Cardinal.

   Wake Forest began the final leg of its journey this week in the UCF Challenge, claiming the team crown for the second straight year at Eagle Lodge Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The UCF Challenge wrapped up Tuesday.

   With Kuehn finishing in third place in the individual standings and Walsh landing in a tie for fourth, Wake Forest went 42-under par with an 822 total and needed almost every one of its birdies to overcome runnerup Mississippi State, a tough Southeastern Conference entry, by four shots and perennial Big Ten power Northwestern, which finished a shot behind the Bulldogs in third place.

   Of course, Wake Forest won the UCF Challenge title a year ago with a 45-under 819, so the Demon Deacons had an inkling that they might have to take it low to repeat as the champion.

   Kuehn opened with a sparkling 8-under 64 over the 6,379-yard, par-72 Eagle Creek layout to help Wake Forest a sizzling team score of 20-under 268.

   But Northwestern, which moved up from No. 37 to No. 27 in the Golfstat rankings with its strong showing at Eagle Creek, wasn’t far behind with a strong opening round of 16-under 272. And the Wildcats took a three-shot lead over Wake Forest into the final round as they added an 18-under 270 in Monday’s second round. Wake Forest put together a pretty solid 11-under 277 of its own in the second round.

   And the Demon Deacons just kept pouring it on in the final round, registering a second straight 11-under 277 to get it to 42-under.

   Mississippi State started the week ranked 11^th, but moved up to No. 7 in the aftermath of the UCF Challenge. The Bulldogs were right there the whole way as they added a 17-under 271 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 11-under 277. Mississippi State closed with a 10-under 278 to finish four shots behind Wake Forest in second place with a 38-under 826, smashing the program record in relation to par for a 54-hole event by six shots.

   Mississippi State was boosted by Julia Lopez Ramirez, a sophomore from Spain, who put together a fairly spectacular 54-hole total of 19-under 197 total that somehow only earned her runnerup honors behind individual champion Anna Nordfors, a graduate student at host Central Florida who came in with an otherworldly 21-under 195 total.

   Northwestern ran out of steam a little in the final round as the Wildcats recorded a 3-under 285 to finish a shot behind Mississippi State with a 37-under 827 total, pretty strong for a program that always seems to be playing its best golf late in the spring.

   Mississippi State was there at Grayhawk last spring, the Bulldogs advancing out of a tough Tallahassee Regional as a six seed, and the Wildcats just missed making it to the NCAA Championship as they lost in a playoff to Big Ten rival Purdue as a seven seed in the Stanford Regional.

   Host UCF, behind Nordfors, finished 10 shots behind Northwestern in fourth place with a 27-under 837 total. The Knights, who moved into the Golfstat top 25 with their strong showing in their home tournament at No. 22, added a 12-under 276 in Monday’s second round to their opening-round 277 before finishing up with a 4-under 284.

   Nordfors is taking the extra year of eligibility granted to players when the onset of the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the final months of the 2019-’20 season at UCF after an outstanding four-year career at Campbell. Nordfors was the Big South champion at Campbell last spring.

   Nordfors established a single-round program record at UCF when she matched the 8-under 64 posted by Wake Forest’s Kuehn in Sunday’s opening round. That record lasted all of one day as Nordfors came back in Monday’s second round with a sizzling 9-under 63.

   Nordfors finally cooled off, if you can call a 4-under 68 cooling off, in the final round to reach 21-under and two shots clear of Ramirez.

   Mississippi State’s SEC rival Kentucky was another seven shots behind UCF in fifth place with a 20-under 844 total, a showing that bumped the Bluegrass Wildcats from No. 31 into Golfstat’s top 25 at No. 24. After opening with a 5-under 283, Kentucky registered an 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 284.

   Kentucky was missing Jensen Castle, the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from West Columbia, S.C., from its lineup. Castle, a senior, finished second in the individual standings while leading Kentucky to a runnerup finish behind Wake Forest in the UCF Challenge a year ago.

   Colonial Athletic Association champion College of Charleston was a shot behind Kentucky in sixth place with a 19-under 845 total as the Cougars added an 11-under 277 in Monday’s second round to their opening-round 280 before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   It was the opening of the spring campaign for the Big Ten’s Penn State and the Nittany Lions finished in a tie for 12^th place in the 18-team field with Iowa State, out of the Big 12, and North Carolina Wilmington, another CAA entry, each landing on 2-under 862. Penn State’s ranking held at No. 70 after the UCF Challenge while Iowa State saw its ranking drop from No. 23 to No. 30 and UNCW also head steady at No. 74.

   After opening with a 2-over 290, Penn State came in under par in the final two rounds, carding a 3-under 285 in Monday’s second round and a 1-under 287 in the final round.

   Kuehn added a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 64 and closed with a 69 to finish four shots behind Mississippi State’s Ramirez in third place in the individual standings with a 15-under 201 total and lead the way for Wake Forest.

   Walsh also had three sub-70 rounds in getting her share of fourth place with a 12-under 204 total, three shots behind her teammate Kuehn. After opening with a sparkling 5-under 67, Walsh added a 69 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 68.

   The Demon Deacons also got a strong showing from the defending individual UCF Challenge champion, Carolina Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain. Chacarra finished among a trio of players tied for 11^th place with an 8-under 208 total as she recorded back-to-back 70s in the final two rounds after opening with a 4-under 68.

   Chacarra had fired a stunning 10-under 62 in the final round a year ago to storm to a four-shot victory.

   Migliaccio gave Wake Forest a fourth finisher inside the top 20 as she added a 70 in Monday’s second round to her opening round of 3-under 69 before matching par in the final round with a 72 to finish among the group tied for 20^th place with an 8-under 208 total.

   Migliaccio was on her way to the LPGA Tour when she played in that Final Match of the NCAA Championship with Wake Forest in 2019 at the Blessings. But she decided to change her path in the spring of 2021. She would remain an amateur for the foreseeable future.

   Migliaccio was at Grayhawk for last year’s NCAA Championship, but not as a member of the Wake Forest team. She took the 2021-’22 season off to take an internship with The Golf Channel. She was doing post-round interviews at Grayhawk, unfortunately not of her once and future Wake Forest teammates. Migliaccio is back for a sixth year at Wake Forest, taking the extra year of eligibility she had coming to her from that nightmare spring of 2020.

   Migliaccio and Kuehn have played on winning U.S. Curtis Cup teams in a nine-month span, courtesy, of course, of the pandemic, at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales in August of 2021 and at the iconic East Course at Merion Golf Club last June. Their Wake Forest teammate Walsh played on the losing Great Britain & Ireland teams in both cases.

   They have played in some high-leverage match-play situations. If they can get the Demon Deacons into the match-play bracket this spring at Grayhawk, they would be dangerous.

   Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup at Eagle Creek was Mimi Rhodes, a junior from England who finished in the group tied for 31^st place with a 2-under 214 total. After opening with a 74, Rhodes posted a pair of back-to-back 2-under 70s.

   Mississippi State’s Ramirez, who finished fifth in the individual standings in last spring’s SEC Championship at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., added a sizzling 8-under 64 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 66, but still trailed Nordfors by three shots heading into the final round. A final round of 5-under 67 left her two shots behind Nordfors in second place with a 19-under 197 total. Not a victory, but a tremendous tournament regardless.

   Joining Wake Forest’s Walsh in the tie for fourth place at 12-undere was Iowa State’s Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn, a freshman from Thailand. After opening with a 70, Chul-Ak-Sorn registered back-to-back 5-under 67s in the final two rounds.

   College of Charleston’s Emma Schimpf, a sophomore from Daniel Island, S.C., and Northwestern’s Lauren Nguyen, a sophomore from Seattle, Wash., finished in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 11-under 205.

   Schmipf was the runnerup in last spring’s CAA Championship at the Reserve Club at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C. She snuck down to Florida in December and claimed the title in the Women’s Dixie Amateur in a playoff at Palm Aire Country Club’s Cypress Course in Sarasota.

   After opening with a 3-under 69 at Eagle Creek, Schimpf ripped off a sparkling 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 70. Nguyen was only four shots off of Nordfors’ blazing pace when she added an 8-under 64 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 67. Nguyen cooled in the final round with a 2-over 74 to join Schimpf at 11-under.

   Nguyen’s teammate Dianna Lee, a freshman from San Diego, Calif., finished alone in eighth place with a 10-under 206 total. After opening with a 70, Lee climbed up the leaderboard with a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round and a final-round 69.

   Ramirez’s Mississippi State teammate, Izzy Pellot, a freshman playing not far from her Orlando home, and Kentucky’s Laney Frye, a senior home girl from Lexington, Ky., finished in a tie for ninth place, each posting a 9-under 207 total.

   Pellot, coming off a standout junior career, added a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 69 before finishing up with a 70. Frye rattled off three straight 3-under 69s.

   Joining Wake Forest’s Chacarra in the trio tied for 11^th place at 8-under 208 were a third Northwestern player in the top 11, Jieni Li, a junior from China, and Frye’s Kentucky teammate, Ivy Shepherd, a graduate student from Peachtree City, Ga.

   Li added a 71 in Monday’s second round to her opening round of 3-under 69 before closing with a solid 4-under 68. Shepherd, whose college career started at Clemson, carded back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 70.

   Penn State was led by Sarah Willis, a fifth-year player from Eaton, Ohio who finished among the group tied for 17^th place with a 6-under 210 total. Willis, who has been a really solid player for head coach Denise St. Pierre during Willis’ time in Happy Valley, was the picture of consistency, registering three straight 2-under 70s at Eagle Creek.

   Drew Nienhaus, a sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., backed up Willis as she landed in the group tied for 37th place at even-par 216. After opening with a 3-over 75, Nienhaus matched par with a 72 in Monday’s second round before closing with a solid 3-under 69.

   Isha Dhruva, a senior from Katy, Texas ended up among the group tied for 60^th place with a 3-over 219 total. After opening with a 2-over 74, Dhruva matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 73.

   Mathilde Delavallade, a senior from France, struggled a little at Eagle Creek as she carded back-to-back 3-over 75s in the final two rounds after opening with a 71 to finish alone in 71^st place with a 5-over 221 total.

   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 77^th place at 8-over 224. Cox, the 2021 Pennsylvania Junior Girls Championship winner, bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a solid 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 3-over 75.

   Taylor Waller, a fifth-year player who starred scholastically at Canon-McMillan, competed as an individual for Penn State and finished among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 2-over 218 total. Waller opened with a 1-under 71, added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 74.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind individual champion Sargent, Vanderbilt dominates at The Hayt

   Vanderbilt has long been one of the top golf programs in the country.

   But what the Commodores have been doing for the last year has been pretty special, even by their lofty standards.

   With reigning NCAA individual champion Gordon Sargent, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala. and No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), taking it really low and claiming the individual crown by seven shots, Vanderbilt rolled to a 16-shot victory over host North Florida in The Hayt, which wrapped up Monday at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

   It was the ninth tournament title since last February for Vanderbilt, which entered the midseason pause in the wraparound 2022-2023 season at No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings. Included in that stretch was the first Southeastern Conference crown for the Commodores last spring as they ran the match-play gauntlet in college golf’s deepest circuit.

   Vanderbilt claimed the team crown in the NCAA’s Palm Beach Regional last spring, ultimately falling in the semifinals in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. after sharing medalist honors with Oklahoma and North Carolina in four rounds of qualifying for match play.

   It seems like forever, but it was only a little more than three months ago when Vanderbilt punctuated the fall portion of its season by winning the title in the East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, an event that brought together the four semifinalists from the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk.

   There is much left to do, but the start of the spring portion of Vanderbilt’s schedule couldn’t have been more impressive.

   After opening with a 2-under-par 286 in difficult conditions over the 6,966-yard, par-72 Sawgrass layout in the first round of Sunday’s double round, the Commodores took command with a sparkling 17-under 271 in Sunday afternoon’s second round.

   Sargent, who had opened with a 2-under 70, fueled Vanderbilt’s second-round surge with an explosive 8-under 64 that tied the course record.

   Vanderbilt closed with a 9-under 279 in Monday’s final round to finish with a 28-under 836 total.

   Sargent, whose sizzling second round featured a stretch where he went eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie from holes eight through 11, had eight birdies on his scorecard in Monday’s final round as he closed with a 5-under 67 that gave him the individual title with a 15-under 201 total.

   Sargent will miss a little of the spring season for Vanderbilt while he participates in that little gathering at Augusta National Golf Club in April known as The Masters Tournament. The Masters doesn’t send out invitations to just any amateur, but Sargent is certainly deserving off his performance over the last year or so.

   Host North Florida was the only team in the same zip code as Vanderbilt as the most underrated team in college golf closed with a 1-under 287 to earn runnerup honors with a 12-under 852 total.

   The Ospreys, No. 42 in the Golfstat rankings heading into the spring, were led by Nick Gabrelcik, a junior from Trinity, Fla. and No. 11 in the WAGR who earned runnerup honors with an 8-under 208 total, seven shots behind Sargent.

   Surprised that North Florida has the 11^th-best amateur player in the world? Don’t be. Gabrelcik has been one of the best players in college golf since he first teed it up in the fall of 2020.

   After matching par in the opening round at Sawgrass with a 72, Gabrelcik carded a sparkling 6-under 66 in Sunday afternoon’s second round that still left him four shots off Sargent’s sizzling pace. Garbrelcik closed with a 2-under 70.

   North Florida won the tough ASUN and advanced to the NCAA Championship out of the New Haven Regional last spring. Tremendous accomplishment, but kind of ho-hum at North Florida, which made it to the NCAA Championship for the third time in the last four seasons.

   The Ospreys matched par with a 288 in the opening round at Sawgrass and only trailed Vanderbilt by two shots. They added a solid 11-under 277 in Sunday afternoon’s second round, but found themselves trailing the Commodores by eight shots.

   Another ASUN entry, Florida Gulf Coast, ranked 60^th, was another 17 shots behind North Florida in third place with a 5-over 869 total.

   The Eagles, who were awarded a spot in the field for the NCAA Columbus Regional last spring, struggled in the opening round at Sawgrass with a 301, but bounced back in Sunday’s second round with an 8-under 280 before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   Vanderbilt’s SEC rival, Alabama, ranked 17^th, was a shot behind Florida Gulf Coast in fourth place with a 6-over 870 total.

   The Crimson Tide were shaking off some of the rust from the midseason pause with rounds of 6-over 294 and 5-over 293 in Sunday’s double round before finishing up with a solid 5-under 283.

   Sun Belt Conference representative Coastal Carolina, probably a little underrated at No. 111 in the Golfstat rankings, finished three shots behind Alabama with a 9-over 873 total. The Chanticleers sandwiched a 295 in Sunday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 289s.

   Central Florida, out of the American Athletic Conference, was a shot behind Coastal Carolina in sixth place in the 14-team field with a 10-over 274 total. The No. 86 Knights earned a spot in the New Haven Regional last spring.

   UCF sandwiched a solid 2-under 286 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 6-over 294s.

   Backing up Sargent for Vanderbilt was senior Matthew Riedel, part of the Commodores’ Texas Connection from Houston and No. 71 in the WAGR. After opening with a 73, Riedel contributed a 4-under 68 to Vanderbilt’s surge in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70 that left him in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings with a 5-under 211 total.

   Scott Limbaugh, the Thomas F. Roush, M.D. and Family Men’s Golf Head Coach at Vanderbilt, gave a couple of his younger guys a chance to play in the starting lineup and Jackson Van Paris, a sophomore from Pinehurst, N.C., responded by finishing in a tie for sixth place 4-under 212 total.

   Among the starting five, Van Paris’ opening round of 3-under 69 made him low Commodore. He added a a 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Wells Williams, a freshman from West Point, Miss. making his Vanderbilt debut, finished in the group tied for 11^th place with a 2-under 214 total as he added a solid 4-under 68 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 74 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Rounding out the Vanderbilt lineup was Cole Sherwood, a junior from Austin, Texas and No. 9 in the WAGR who finished among the group tied for 14^th place with a 1-under 215 total. After opening with a 74, Sherwood carded a solid 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Graduate student Reid Davenport, another Austin, Texas guy and No. 9 in the WAGR, competed as an individual for Vanderbilt and finished in the group tied for eighth place at 3-under 213. Davenport was Sargent’s closer pursuer for individual honors going into the final round after he registered a 4-under 68 and a 3-under 69 in Sunday’s double round, but fell back a little with a 76 in Monday’s final round.

   Senior William Moll, another Houstonian and No. 93 in the WAGR, also competed as an individual for Vanderbilt and finished in the group tied for 38^th place with a 6-over 222 total. Moll added a 3-over 75 in Sunday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 73 before closing with a 74.

   Sargent, Davenport, Sherwood and Moll were all in the starting lineup for the Commodores in last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.

   Sargent and Sherwood were joined by North Florida’s Gabrelcik in an audition at courses in the Jupiter, Fla. neighborhood in mid-December for candidates for the team that will represent the United States in the Walker Cup Match at the Old Course at St. Andrews this summer.

   Florida Gulf Coast’s Austin Cherichella, a junior from Orlando, Fla., carded his second straight 3-under 69 in the final round to finish a shot behind Gabrelcik in third place in the individual standings with a 7-under 209 total. Cherichella opened with a 1-under 71.

   Joining Vanderbilt’s Riedel in the tie for fourth place, two shots behind Cherichella at 5-under 211, was North Florida’s Robbie Higgins, a junior from Bradenton, Fla. After opening with a 71, Higgins added a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Joining Vanderbilt’s Van Paris in the tie for sixth place at 4-under 212 was Arkansas’ Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a senior from Argentina and No. 26 in the WAGR. Fernandez de Oliveira sandwiched a 4-under 68 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Joining Vanderbilt’s Davenport in the trio tied for eighth place at 3-under 213 were North Florida’s Justin Ross, a redshirt freshman from Boca Raton, Fla. who was competing as an individual, and Jacksonville State’s Erik Jansson, a junior from Sweden.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Ross added a 1-under 71 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 70. After opening with a 73, Jansson bounced back with a 3-under 69 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 71.

   Almost missed him, but an interesting name popped up in the results as Harrisburg’s Garrett Engle, a sophomore at Chattanooga, finished in the group tied for 41^st place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Engle, who finished in a tie for fourth place as a 15-year-old in the 2918 Pennsylvania Amateur Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, never really participated in the Pennsylvania scholastic postseason while at Central Dauphin. He was at Oklahoma last season, but couldn’t crack the lineup of a team that was ranked No. 1 for much of the 2021-’22 season, losing to Arizona State in the NCAA semifinals at Grayhawk.

   Engle opened with a 1-over 73 at Sawgrass and added a 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 74.

   The Moccasins, playing out of the Southern Conference and ranked 64^th, finished four shots behind UCF in seventh place in the team standings with a 14-over 878 total.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan, behind Thomson, upends the Big Ten Match Play and captures the title

   The weekend didn’t exactly get off to a great start for either Michigan, the eighth seed, or Penn State, the seventh seed.

   It was the opening of the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season with the playing of the Big Ten Match Play at the Hammock Beach Resort’s Ocean Course in Palm Coast, Fla. on the East Coast between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.

   A morning shower forced the match between two of the lowest-seeded teams Friday morning to be limited to nine holes with Michigan, No. 107 in the Golfstat rankings at the midseason pause in the college golf season, pulling out a 3-2 victory over Penn State, ranked 97^th.

   Of course, if the guys checked the weather reports from home with temperatures hurtling toward zero and winds gusting to 30 and 40 mph, maybe a chilly rain in Florida wasn’t so bad after all.

   The Big Ten Match Play doesn’t include the entire league. The three highest-ranked teams at the midseason pause, No. 7 Illinois, the perennial conference champion, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 28 Purdue, weren’t there, nor was No. 41 Iowa, but nine Big Ten teams were there, leaving simulators behind to get on a real golf course and hit some real golf shots.

   Of the six Big Ten teams that were awarded berths in NCAA regionals last spring, half of them were at Hammock Beach with seeds given out based on Golfstat rankings at the end of the fall campaign. And match play being match play, the unexpected will usually break out at some point.

   Turned out, Michigan took that narrow win over Penn State and rode it all the way to the title, claiming a hard-fought 3-2 win over top-seeded Northwestern, ranked 38^th. It was the lowest-seeded team to capture the title since the same Wolverines pulled off the feat as an eight seed in 2014.

   There were three matches played Friday morning and I’m not exactly sure how it all worked out, but Penn State’s loss to Michigan knocked the Nittany Lions out of Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals. For instance, third-seeded Indiana, ranked 66^th, beat Minnesota, seeded fifth and ranked 82^nd, 3.5-1.5, Friday morning, but both played in the quarterfinals.

   Penn State, though, turned its disappointing start into a solid weekend as the Nittany Lions advanced out of the consolation bracket Saturday morning via a tiebreaker (most holes won) after finishing in a 2.5-2.5 tie with Maryland, seeded ninth and ranked 189^th.

   The rust fully shaken off, Penn State finished off the weekend with an impressive 4-1 victory over Nebraska, seeded fourth and ranked 73^rd, Saturday afternoon.

   Penn State’s James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y., earned a full point for the Nittany Lions with a 3 and 1 victory over Michigan’s Jude Kim, a junior from Plantation, Fla., in Friday morning’s nine-hole opener.

   Two players on the Penn State roster who I have been following since they were high school standouts, senior Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA champion in 2018 as a senior at Central Bucks East, and sophomore Morgan Lofland, a two-time Central League champion at Conestoga, settled for draws in their respective nine-hole matches.

   Sheehan ended up with a half-point against Will Anderson, a junior from Portage, Mich., while Lofland finished in a tie with Ben Hoagland, a junior from Evansville, Ind.

   The Wolverines then pulled out a pair of 1-up victories to seal the 3-2 victory.

   Michigan’s Hunter Thomson, a sophomore from Canada, started off what turned into a 4-0 weekend with his victory over Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md., and Yugi Liu, a sophomore from China, edged senior Jimmy Meyers, who helped Pittsburgh Central Catholic capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a senior in 2018.

   The win put Michigan into a quarterfinal showdown Friday afternoon with second-seeded Michigan State, ranked 55^th. Pretty sure whenever this intra-state rivalry is renewed in any sport, anywhere, it matters.

   Thomson picked up his second win of the day as he dismissed Drew Hackett, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., with a 6 and 4 victory.

   Anderson cruised to a 4 and 3 victory over Ashton McCulloch, a senior from Canada, Kim posted a 3 and 1 victory over Troy Taylor II, a senior from Westerville, Ohio, and Hoagland earned a hall-point in battling a tough customer in August Meekhof, a junior from Coopersville, Mich., to a draw as Michigan claimed a 3.5-1.5 victory over Michigan State and booked a spot in Saturday morning’s semifinals.

   Michigan State’s lone full point was delivered by Bradley Smithson, a senior from Grand Rapids, Mich. who claimed a 4 and 2 decision over Liu.

   Indiana had won the last two playings of the Big Ten Match Play and the Hoosiers got off to a good start in their bid to make it three in a row.

   After sneaking past Minnesota in its nine-hole match Friday morning, a veteran Indiana team advanced to a semifinal meeting with Michigan via a tiebreaker after battling Rutgers, seeded sixth and ranked 92^nd, to a 2.5-2.5 draw in a quarterfinal match Friday afternoon.

   Indiana got a pair of full points with convincing victories as Drew Salyers, a junior from Howard, Ohio, claimed a 4 and 3 win over Xavier Marcoux, a senior from Concord, Mass., and Harry Reynolds, a fifth-year player from Greenville, S.C., cruised to a 5 and 4 decision over James Newton, a freshman from Canada.

   Mitch Davis, another fifth-year player from Valparaiso, Ind., earned a critical half-point for the Hoosiers by battling Luke Wells, a senior from Springfield, Ohio, to a draw.

   The Scarlet Knights also had a pair of impressive wins as Rhett Sellers, a junior from Longview, Texas, rolled to a 5 and 3 victory over Noah Gillard, a senior from Greenwood, Ind., and Weston Jones, a sophomore from Sudbury, Mass., claimed a 4 and 3 verdict over Thomas Hurley, a fifth-year player from Suttons Bay, Mich.

   Top-seeded Northwestern got a pair of wins on the first day of the Big Ten Match play.

   Rutgers gave the Wildcats a bit of a battle, but Northwestern edged the Scarlet Knights, 3-2, in rain-shortened contest Friday morning.

   David Nyfjall, a graduate student from Sweden and the reigning Big Ten individual champion, won twice Friday on his way to a 4-0 weekend for the Wildcats, including a hard-fought 1-up victory over Will Celiberti, a senior from Ridgewood, N.J., that was the clinching point in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Maryland. Nyfjall had earned a 3 and 2 victory earlier Friday over Rutgers’ Wells.

   Northwestern’s other two full points came from James Imai, a senior from Brookline, Mass. who rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Will Koons, a senior from Lutherville, Md., and Daniel Svard, a freshman from Sweden who pulled out a 1-up decision over Dillon Brown, a senior from Halifax, Mass.

   Maryland got match wins from Ronnie Kim, a freshman from Olney, Md. who cruised to a 5 and 3 victory over Cameron Adam, a sophomore from Scotland, and Constantin Mons, a freshman from Germany who edged John Driscoll III, a senior from Lake Mary, Fla., 2 and 1.

   Minnesota bounced back from its loss to Indiana Friday morning with a 5-0 sweep of Nebraska in the last of the four quarterfinal matches.

   Harrison Arnold, a senior from England, got the Gophers off to a solid start with a 4 and 2 victory over the Cornhuskers’ Jeremy Sisson, a junior from Skaneateles, N.Y. Sisson had made another foray to Florida in mid-December and came away with a trophy as he captured the Dixie Men’s Amateur Championship at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs.

   Lincoln Johnson, a graduate student from Chaska, Minn., earned a 2 and 1 win over Will Marshall, a senior from Elburn, Ill., Jacob Pedersen, a graduate student from Minnetonka, Minn., edged Evan McDermott, a freshman from Spring Lake, Mich., 1-up, Antoine Sale, a senior from France, cruised to a 4 and 3 decision over Quinn Yost, a freshman from Farmington, N.M., and Bennett Swavely, a sophomore from Hudson, Wis., rolled to a 6 and 5 verdict over Caleb Badura, a senior from Aurora, Neb.

   In Saturday morning’s semifinals, Michigan elbowed its way into the title match with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over defending champion Indiana. Thomson ran his record to 3-0 by grinding out a 1-up decision over Salyers.

   The Wolverines’ other match wins came from Anderson, who rolled to a 5 and 3 victory over Davis, and Hoagland, who claimed a 4 and 2 decision over Eric Berggren, a senior from Windermere, Fla.

   The Hoosiers picked up two full points as Gillard edged Kim, 2-up, and Reynolds earned a 3 and 1 win over Liu.

   Nyfjall’s 4 and 2 victory over Minnesota’s Johnson might have been the difference as Northwestern reached the final via tiebreaker after the Wildcats and the Gophers battled to a 2.5-2.5 draw.

   Northwestern got another full point from Driscoll, who outlasted Swavely, 2-up. The Wildcats picked up a critical half-point as Svard ended up on even terms with Sale.

   Both of Minnesota’s full points came on the 18^th hole as Arnold edged Imai, 1-up, and Petersen pulled out a 1-up victory over Adam. Sounds like some great matches all the way around.

   Fittingly, it was Thomson holing a par putt on the 18^th hole that gave him a 1-up victory over Imai and Michigan a 3-2 triumph over Northwestern in Saturday afternoon’s title math. Hail to the Victors, right?

   The other full points for the Wolverines were earned by Liu, who claimed a 3 and 2 decision over Driscoll, and Kim, who knocked off Adam, 2 and 1.

   Nyfjall completed his 4-0 weekend with a 2-up victory over Anderson. Nyfjall was the medalist in last spring’s Big Ten Championship at the French Lick Resort’s Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind. Nyfjall will defend his title in late April at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore. Have always heard good things about Galloway National. Also, that it’s hard and can be really hard when the wind blows.

   Svard picked up the other point for Northwestern with a 2-up victory over Hoagland.

   Indiana and Minnesota reprised their match from Friday morning in the third-place match with the Hoosiers again beating the Gophers as a tiebreaker was needed to decide the 2.5-2.5 deadlock.

   Indiana prevailed on the strength of a couple of decisive victories as Gillard rolled to an 8 and 7 victory over Petersen and Reynolds claimed a 4 and 3 victory over Swavely.

   Salyers pulled out a crucial half-point by battling Arnold to a draw.

   Minnesota’s two full points came from Johnson, who claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Davis, and
Sale, who pulled out a 2-up victory over Berggren.

   Penn State finally got back on the golf course in Saturday morning’s consolation bracket and picked up a hard-fought tie-breaker win over Maryland.

   Griffin claimed a 4 and 3 decision over the Terrapins’ Celiberti and Jud Langille, a junior from Ossining, N.Y., earned a 5 and 4 victory over Mons to account for the Nittany Lions’ two full points and Sheehan battled Kim to a draw to pick up a crucial half-point for Penn State.

   Maryland claimed a pair of 1-up wins for its two full points as Brown edged the Nittany Lions’ Allen and Armand Papaziani, a freshman from France, pulled out a victory on the 18^th hole against Lofland.

   That gave Penn State a date opposite Nebraska, which had claimed a 4-1 win over Rutgers Saturday morning, and the Nittany Lions saved their best for last in winning three matches outright and halving two others in their 4-1 victory.

   Sheehan, who represented Penn State in the NCAA’s Columbus Regional last spring and qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the second straight year in the summer, handed McDermott a 4 and 3 setback, Allen knocked off Yost, 4 and 2, and Meyers edged Reed Malleck, a junior from York, Neb.

   Griffin battled Sisson to a draw and Langille capped a solid day by earning a half-point against Badura.

   Michigan State, probably still smarting a little from its loss to Michigan, finished its weekend with a 4-1 victory over Maryland in the consolation bracket.

   Meekhof, who finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Championship last spring at French Lick, led the way for the Spartans with a 5 and 4 victory over Brown.

   Michigan State also got match wins from Hackett, who defeated Celiberti, 4 and 3, McCulloch, who knocked off Kim, 3 and 2, and Smithson, who rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over Papaziani.

   Maryland got its lone point from Mons, who earned a 5 and 4 victory over Satchel Pierce, a sophomore from Edwardsburg, Mich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trio of freshmen powers Texas to team crown in Southwestern Invitational

   Riding the wave of spectacular opening-round 61 from freshman homeboy Jacob Sosa, reigning national champion Texas rolled to a 13-shot victory over 2021 national champion Pepperdine in the Southwestern Invitational, which wrapped up Wednesday at North Rock Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.

   There is very little resemblance between this Texas team and the group of Longhorns that captured the fourth national crown in program history with a 3-2 victory over an Arizona State team that was basically playing a home game at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Coody twins, Pierceson and Parker, and Cole Hammer were seniors who had battled through a lot of adversity and they led the way for Texas at Grayhawk before going off in pursuit of their professional dreams.

   But a trio of freshmen, including Sosa, Keaton Vo, who, like Sosa, is an Austin, Texas homeboy, and Christiaan Maas of South Africa, looked ready for prime time in the victory for the Longhorns in the Southwestern.

   The Southwestern has become something of the opening act of the spring portion of the wraparound college season. The tournament shows up on The Golf Channel and draws a field full of potential national championship contenders.

   College golf, both the men’s and women’s games, apparently have made something of a splash on the golf scene and rightfully so. Maybe it’s because some of the recent college standouts have made such a seamless transition to the pro game. Or maybe it’s the same youthful enthusiasm that has always made college kids, regardless the sport, so much fun to watch.

   Sosa’s brilliant opening salvo, which featured three eagles, five birdies and nary a bogey, led Texas, a perennial Big 12 power, to the best team round of the tournament, an 18-under-par 270, in Monday’s opening round over the 7,017-yard, par-72 North Ranch layout.

   The wind came up a little and the golf course was toughened a little as the Longhorns added a pair of 2-over 290s in Tuesday’s second round and Wednesday’s final round, but nobody was able to catch up to them after their fast start. Texas, No. 20 in the Golfstat rankings entering the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season, finished with a 14-under 850 total.

   West Coast Conference power Pepperdine, ranked 14^th, opened with a 2-over 290 and trailed Texas by 20 shots. The Waves had the best team rounds in the final two rounds, an even-par 288 in Tuesday’s second round and a 3-under 285 in Wednesday’s final round, to finish 13 shots behind the Longhorns with a 1-under 863 total. Pepperdine was the only other team to finish under par for the week.

   Pac-12 power Arizona State, ranked fourth, was another five shots behind Pepperdine in third place with a 4-over 868 total. The Sun Devils were Texas’ closest pursuer following a solid opening round of 13-under 275 before struggling to a 304 in Tuesday’s second round. Arizona State closed with a solid 1-over 289.

   Those top three finishers have been running into each other a lot in the last eight months. Pepperdine joined Texas and Arizona State in the semifinals in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring.

   Those semifinal berths earned all three teams a spot in the field for the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, an event that puts an exclamation point on the fall portion of the wraparound college season and also draws the attention of The Golf Channel’s cameras.

   Arizona State edged Pepperdine, 3-2, in the semifinals at East Lake before dropping a 3-2 decision to a veteran Vanderbilt team in the final. Vandy rolled to a 4-1 victory over Texas in the semifinals and Pepperdine handed the Longhorns a 4-1 setback in the third-place match.

   Arizona State’s Pac 12 rival Oregon, ranked 26^th, finished four shots behind the Sun Devils in fourth place in the Southwestern as the Ducks opened with a solid 4-under 284 and added a 5-over 293 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 7-over 295.

   Two more Pac-12 entries, No. 29 Washington and No. 140 UCLA (not sure 140 sounds right for the Bruins, but it will be going up shortly), finished in a tie for fifth place in the 12-team field, each landing on 16-over 880, eight shots behind Oregon.

   After opening with a 2-over 290, the reigning Pac-12 champion Huskies added a pair of 7-over 295s in the final two rounds. UCLA got a little better in each round, opening with a 7-over 295, improving by a shot with a 294 in Tuesday’s second round and closing with a 3-over 291.

   It certainly looked like Texas’ freshmen did some growing up during the midseason pause. Or maybe they were just thrilled to have left Austin behind as it was preparing to be slammed by a long-duration ice storm for the relatively benign conditions of Southern California.

   Sosa made eagles at the par-4 second hole and at a pair of par-5s, the fourth and 12^th holes, in his spectacular opening round.

   Sosa cooled off in the last two rounds with a pair of 2-over 74s, to finish in third place in the final individual standings with a 7-under 209 total.

   Turned out Sosa wasn’t even the low Longhorn. That honor went to Vo, who opened with a relatively modest 5-under 67, added a 71 in Tuesday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70 for an 8-under 208 total that left him a shot behind the individual champion, Michael Brennan, a junior at Wake Forest from Leesburg, Va. and No. 19 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   Maas, No. 25 in the WAGR, gave Texas a third finisher among the top five as he landed in a tie for fifth place with a 4-under 212 total. Maas contributed a 4-under 68 to the opening-round surge by the Longhorns and added a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-over 74.

   The veterans in the Texas lineup, perhaps biding their time for the postseason a few months down the road, were further down the line in the individual standings.

   Brian Stark, a graduate student from Kingsburg, Calif. and No. 34 in the WAGR, finished in the group tied for 28^th place with a 7-over 223 total. Stark, a transfer from Texas’ arch-rival, Oklahoma State, sandwiched a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of 74s.

   Rounding out the Texas lineup was its best and most experienced player, Travis Vick, a senior from Houston and No. 7 in the WAGR. Vick finished among the group tied for 42^nd place with a 228 total. Vick struggled in the first two rounds, adding a 5-over 77 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 79, before matching par with a 72 that was a counter for the Longhorns in the final round.

   Vick was the only player in the Texas lineup at North Ranch who was in the lineup for the Longhorns’ victory over Arizona State at Grayhawk. His 1-up win over Cameron Sisk provided the clinching point in Texas’ 3-2 victory over the Sun Devils in the Final Match.

   Vick actually suffered a 2-up setback at the hands of Stark in Texas’ 3-2 victory over Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals at Grayhawk.

   Brennan, who helped Wake Forest win the Atlantic Coast Conference team crown last spring, bided his time after his opening round of 2-under 70 left him nine shots behind Sosa.

   Brennan’s 4-under 68 was the best round of the day when the wind came up for Tuesday’s second round as he crept within three shots of Sosa heading into the final round. Brennan’s final round of 3-under 69 gave him a 9-under 207 total and a one-shot edge on Vo for his fifth collegiate individual victory.

   Arizona State’s freshman phenom, Luke Potter of Encinitas, Calif. and No. 98 in the WAGR, finished two shots behind Sosa in fourth place with a 5-under 211 total.

   Potter, coming off a stellar junior career, was Sosa’s closest pursuer after opening with a sparkling 7-under 65. Potter fell back with a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a solid 1-under 71.

   Joining Texas’ Maas in a tie for fifth place at 4-under was Oregon’s Owen Avrit , a senior from Arroyo Grande, Calif. After opening with a 1-under 71, Avrit matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 72 before finishing up with a solid 3-under 69.

   A pair of Washington players, Taehoon Song, a junior from South Korea, and Teddy Lin, a junior from Taiwan, shared seventh place, each landing on 3-under 213, a shot behind Maas and Avrit.

   After opening with a 1-over 73, Song carded a pair of 2-under 70s in the second and third rounds. Lin opened with a solid 4-under 68 and added a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round before cooling off in the final round with a 2-over 74.

   Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner, a graduate student from Minneapolis, Minn. and No. 35 in the WAGR, headed a group of four players tied for ninth place at 1-under 215. Hitchner, who was in the lineup for the Waves’ run to the NCAA semifinals last spring, opened with a solid 3-under 69 and matched par with a 72 in Tuesday’s second round, before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Hitchner, who made a run to the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., joined Wake Forest’s Brennan among a group of players who auditioned under the watchful eye of captain Mike McCoy for the U.S. team that will play in the Walker Cup Match this summer at the Old Course at St. Andrews. The practice session was held in mid-December at golf courses in the Jupiter, Fla. area.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for ninth place at 1-under were Georgia’s Caleb Manuel, a junior from Topsham, Maine, San Diego State’s Justin Hastings, a sophomore from the Cayman Islands, and UCLA’s Pablo Eveno, a sophomore from Spain.

   Manuel was steady all week, matching par in each of the first two rounds with back-to-back 72s before closing with a 1-under 71. After opening with a 2-under 70, Hastings added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Ereno was 4-under after adding a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 71 before closing with a 3-over 75.

   Interesting name popped up on the Pepperdine roster, that of former Delaware standout Roberto Nieves, who is taking the extra year granted by the NCAA for the spring of 2020 lost to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic with the Waves.

   Nieves, who represented the Blue Hens as an individual in the NCAA’s New Haven Regional last spring, competed as an individual for the Waves in the Southwestern and finished in a tie for 40^th place with a 227 total.

   Nieves, a native of Miami, Fla., struggled a little in the opening round with a 78 before adding a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round and finishing up with a 2-over 74.