Johnson Wins Individual Title, and NDSU Wins the Team at Torrey Pines
March 27, 2024
There weren't a lot of players with Minnesota connections in the Women's NCAA Division I Regionals this week. Only the University of Nebraska's Kate Smith, a senior from Detroit Lakes who won the individual title at the Big Ten Conference Championships in April.
But the University of South Carolina came into the regionals as the No. 1-ranked team in the country, and the head coach for the Gamecocks is Kalen Anderson, the former Edina High School star. During the 1990's, the combination of Anderson and Hilary Homeyer (the future U.S. Women's Open champ) made Edina one of the most dominant teams in the history of Minnesota high school golf, and Anderson was on four state championship teams in a span of five years. She went on to play college golf at Duke, where she was an All-American and was on Duke's first national championship team in 1999.
She also served as an assistant for Duke's NCAA championship team in 2007, before becoming the head coach at South Carolina in 2008.
On Wednesday, the Gamecocks qualified for the NCAA tournament for the ninth time under Anderson. It was a lot harder than they wanted it to be. They had to survive a one-hole playoff to advance -- but the five South Carolina players combined to go 6 under par on that one hole.
South Carolina was assigned to the Louisville Regional this year. After the first two rounds at the University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72, 6,289 yards) in Simpsonville, Ky., the Gamecocks were tied with Arkansas for second place, with a cumulative 581 (5 over par). Not only were they in a strong postion to qualify for the NCAA Championships (May 21-26 at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.), but they were only four shots behind first-place Florida State, and in postiion to claim their sixth NCAA regional title in the last 11 years.
Things didn't go all that well in the final round, however. Mathilde Claisse, a sophomore from Paris who started the day in second place in the individual standings, with a 36-hole aggregate of 139 (71-68), got off to a bad start, and it didn't get any better. She wound up shooting 81 and tying for 24th. Her score didn't count -- only the top four out of five do count -- but that put pressure on the other four South Carolina players.
Pauline Roussin Bouchard, another sophomore from France, was No. 1 in the Golfweek Women's NCAA Division I Rankings when the week began. But she had struggled on Monday and posted a first-round 79. She righted the ship on Tuesday, with a 73, and she closed with a 71. That helped, but the only other South Carolina player under par halfway through the final day was Ana Pelaez, a senior from Spain.
After 11 holes, Pelaez (No. 6 in the individual rankings) was 1 under for the round and 3 under for the tournament, tied for second place. At that point, the Gamecocks were still tied for second as a team (at plus 11 for the tournament), but now with Texas and UCLA. They were three shots ahead of the two teams tied for ffifth, Auburn and Big Ten champion Michigan State, and they were four ahead of Arkansas, which had slipped back into seventh place (at plus 15).
Pelaez then proceeded to go 4 over on the last seven holes, finishing with a bogey at the 478-yard, par-5 17th and another bogey at the 387-yard, par-4 18th. Suddenly, South Carolina was tied with Arkansas for sixth place, with a 54-hole total of 15-over 879 -- and headed for a playoff.
Both teams shot 298, which was tied for the 11th-best score of the day, out of 18 teams.
If parts of the final round were a nightmare for the Gamecocks, the playoff was a dream come true. There were two fivesomes -- three players from one team and two from the other in each -- and they played the ninth hole, a 503-yard par 5. Claisse, Go and Kirner were in the first fivesome, and they all made birdies. Both Arkansas players made pars. Brooke Matthews of Arkansas was in the second fivesome, and she made things interesting with an eagle. But Roussin-Bouchard matched her eagle, and Pelaez made a birdie, as South Carolina won -- 6 under to 4 under.
UCLA's Emma Spitz, a sophomore from Austria, earned medalist honors by shooting 68 on Wednesday and finishing 54 holes with a total of 208. Tennessee junior Mikayla Bardwell, a Texan, and another European, Florida State's Amelia Williamson, a sophomore from England, tied for second at 213. Bardwell was one of the players who advanced as individuals. (Three players not with advancing teams made it to the NCAA Championships as individuals from each regional.) Lauren Hartlage of Louisville and Christin Eisenbeiss of North Florida were the other two who made it on their own. They tied with Kaitlyn Papp of Texas for fourth at 214.
Pelaez was the only South Carolina player in the top 20. Her 4-over-for-the-last-seven finish resulted in a 75 on Wednesday and dropped her into a tie for 12th at 217. Roussin-Bouchard tied for 34th at 223. In the new Golfweek post-regional rankings, Roussin-Bouchard is fourth, and Pelaez seventh.
Florida State stayed at the top of the team standings Wednesday, putting together a 295 and ending up at 872 -- only seven ahead of South Carolina and Arkansas. Texas and UCLA tied for second, three behind at 875. Then came Auburn and Michigan State, tied for fourth at 878.
As for Kate Smith, she got off to a bad start in the Columbus Regional, with a 6-over 78 at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course (par 72, 6,358 yards), and so did the Nebraska team, which opened with a 307 and ended up tied for 15th at 916.
Smith came back with a pair of 74's and tied for 36th at 226.
She was as high as No. 20 in the national rankings this spring, but dropped back to No. 33 this week.
Georgia won the team title in Columbus by 15 strokes over Duke and Arizona State with an overall 865. Jenny Bae (No. 45) made it a sweep for the Bulldogs. The Georgia junior, who is from Georgia (Suwanee), took the lead with a second-round 68 and her 73 in the final round was good for a 212 and a three-stroke victory. Linn Grant of Arizona State, Caley McGinty of Kent State and Michigan's Monet Chun tied for second at 215.
WOMEN'S NCAA DI REGIONALS
Louisville Regional
At University of Louisville Golf Club
Par 72, 6,289 yards
Simpsonville, Ky.
Final results (the top 6 teams qualify for the NCAA Championships, May 21-26 at Greyhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.)
1. Florida State 286-291-295--872
T2. Texas 297-287-291--875
T2. UCLA 291-295-289--875
T4. Auburn 296-296-286--878
T4. Michigan State 292-293-293--878
6. South Carolina 295-286-298--879 (won 1-hole playoff -- No. 9, 503 yards, par 5 -- 5 players 6 under par)
Did not advance
7. Arkansas 299-282-298--879 (5 players 4 under par)
T8. Texas Tech 301-288-292--881
T8. Central Florida 299-289-293--881
10. Tennessee 299-294-289--882
11. Louisville 293-289-302--884
12. North Florida 302-287-303--892
13. Texas-San Antonio 303-298-295--896
14. Mercer 302-287-308--887
15. College of Charleston 305-301-295--901
16. James Madison 303-291-309--903
17. Xavier 306-299-302--907
18. Fairleigh Dickinson 314-324-317--955
Individuals (the top 3 individuals not on advancing teams qualify for the NCAA Championships)
(* -- indicates players advancing as individuals)
1. Emma Spitz, UCLA 73-67-68--208
T2. Mikayla Bardwell, Tenn. 74-75-66--213*
T2. Amelia Williamson, Fla. St. 68-72-73--213
T4. Kaitlyn Papp, Texas 72-69-73--214
T4. Lauren Hartlage, Louisville 69-72-73--214*
T4. Christin Eisenbeiss, No. Fla 71-67-76--214*
T12. Ana Pelaez, So. Carolina 71-71-75--217
T24. Mathilde Claisse, So. Carolina 71-68-81--220
T34. P. Roussin-Bouchard, So. Carolina 79-73-71--223
T51. Lois Kaye Go, South Carolina 76-75-75--226
T63. Paula Kirner, South Carolina 77-74-77--228
Columbus Regional
At Ohio State University -- Scarlet Course
Par 72, 6,358 yards
Columbus, Ohio
Final results (the top 6 teams qualify for the NCAA Championships)
1. Georgia 289-288-288--865
T2. Duke 287-298-295--880
T2. Arizona State 291-301-288--880
4. Kentucky 298-295-290--883
T5. Michigan 288-296-301--885
T5. Kent State 291-298-296--885
Did not advance
7. Oklahoma 286-312-290--888
8. Vanderbilt 297-300-292--889
9. Virginia 296-299-299--894
10. Clemson 299-303-297-899
11. Campbell 298-306-298--902
12. Washington 296-316-293--905
13. Illinois 297-310-299--906
14. Coastal Carolinia 298-313-302--913
T15. Nebraska 307-313-296--916
T15. New Mexico 310-310-296--916
17. Youngstown State 322-318-319--959
18. Evansville 323-335-317--975
Individuals (the top 3 individuals not on advancing teams qualify for the NCAA Championships)
* -- indicates players advancing as individuals
1. Jenny Bae, Georgia 71-68-73--212
T2. Linn Grant, Arizona State 71-74-70--215
T2. Caley McGinty, Kent State 70-73-72--215
T2. Monet Chun, Michigan 70-70-75--215
T5. Rikke Svejgaard, Kentucky 75-72-70--217
T5. Louise Yu, Vanderbilt 75-75-70--217*
T5. Candice Mahe, Georgia 71-75-71--217
T5. Maria Villaneuva, Kentucky 73-71-73--217
T5. Beth Lillie, Virginia 72-72-73--217*
T5. Isabelle Holpfer, Georgia 72-70-75--217
T11. Celina Sattelkau, Vanderbilt 72-72-74--218*
T11. Gina Kim, Duke 70-74-74--218
T36. Kate Smith, Nebraska 78-74-74--226
March 6, 2024
March 6, 2024
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