South Carolina Holds Firm Lead at ANNIKA Intercollegiate; Ole Miss' Johnson in Front with 67s

September 14, 2021 | 5 min.
By Nick Hunter

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  LAKE ELMO, Minn. – Posting a 5-under 67 for the second consecutive round despite breezy conditions Tuesday at Royal Golf Club, Ole Miss golfer Julia Johnson separated herself from the field after two rounds of play at the 2021 ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M.
 
Johnson will take a five-stroke lead to the final round Wednesday, looking to hold off Arizona State University’s Calynne Rosholt and first-round leader Hannah Darling for her fourth collegiate victory, while the University of South Carolina maintained its lead in the team competition, firing a team total of 288 Tuesday to lead the defending champions from Wake Forest University by six strokes.
 
“I’m not even going to look at [the leaderboard] I don’t think,” Johnson said following her round Tuesday. “I know I’m in a good spot, but I’m just going to do exact same thing that I did today—I hit my driver really well, I played really smart and it was fun to have Coach Kory [Henkes] walk with me today.
 
“I’m a fifth-year, so I’ve been doing this college golf thing for a while. I know that when conditions are tough, you can’t really press and have to let it come to you.”
 
Carding three birdies late during her round to open the championship Monday, Johnson sank her eagle putt on the final hole to post a 67 to sit one shot off the lead.
 
Beginning her second round on the 10th tee Tuesday, Johnson tallied three birdies during her opening nine to turn in 8-under for the championship, before taking a step back with a bogey at the first.
 
She would answer by chipping in for birdie at the second before rolling in a 25-footer for birdie at the third to get to 9-under for the championship. Converting her birdie opportunity from eight feet at the par-5 ninth put Johnson in the clubhouse with a five-stroke advantage at 10-under 134.
 
“The conditions were a lot harder today and you just have to be okay with making pars,” said Johnson, a senior from St. Gabriel, La. “Fortunately, I hit some good shots and had some birdies fall. I tried to stay consistent coming in—a few up-and-downs here and there, but overall, really good.
 
“Sometimes when it gets later in the day, the wind will go away, but it never really let up. It almost picked up on our back nine. It’s tough to play in—club decisions are hard to make and you have to put really confident swings on balls.”
 
The Gamecocks jumped out to a seven-stroke lead following Monday’s opening round, led by freshman Hannah Darling’s 6-under 66. On Tuesday, it was junior Mathlide Claisse’s turn to lead the way, birdying three of her final four holes to post a 2-under 70 to sit tied for 11th at 143.
 
Fellow junior Justine Fournand also contributed Tuesday by firing an even par 72, playing her final 10 holes at even par to sit tied with Claisse at 143.
 
Bouncing back from a pair of double-bogeys, Darling played her final 11 holes in 4-under to move into a tie for second with Rosholt at 139.
 
Despite the tougher conditions Tuesday, the University of Minnesota improved by eight strokes from Monday’s opening-round tally of 305 by finishing the second round with a team score of 297.
 
Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Match Play champion Joanne Free led the Gophers during the second round Tuesday, carding a 2-under 70 for Minnesota’s only score below par through two rounds to begin the 2021-22 season.
 
Free, a graduate student from Gullane, Scotland, carded two birdies against one bogey during her opening nine before carding a birdie at her 10th to move to 2-under for the round. She would play her final eight holes in even par to move up 26 spots on the leaderboard to sit tied for 20th at 146.
 
“Coming into the week, we had said if we can see twos across the board this week, that would be a mini-win for us,” Gopher head coach Rhyll Brinsmead said Tuesday. “To go and shoot 9-over today in tougher conditions, we were really pleased. They went out and did what we asked, which was to stay calm and execute.
 
“We asked them last night who tried too hard and everybody raised their hand. They want to go out and prove they’re just as good as these other players, so it was fun to go out there and watch them play golf.”
 
Geraldine Wong, who opened the championship with a 1-over 73 for the Gophers on Monday, fired a 4-over 76 Tuesday and will begin the final round tied for 38th at 149, while Emma Carpenter improved on her opening-round 77 with a 2-over 74 Tuesday, currently sitting tied for 45th.
 
The final round of the 2021 ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M is slated to begin at 8 a.m. at Royal Golf Club.
 
 
 
THE 2021 ANNIKA INTERCOLLEGIATE PRESENTED BY 3M
ROYAL GOLF CLUB
LAKE ELMO, MINN.
6,410 YARDS, PAR 72
 
 
TUESDAY’S TEAM RESULTS
1. South Carolina, 278-288—566
2. Wake Forest, 286-286—572
3. Duke, 285-288—573
4. Alabama, 291-284—575
5. Texas, 291-291—582
6. Arizona, 292-291—583
7. Southern California, 287-297—584
T8. UCLA, 287-298—585
T8. Ole Miss, 290-295—585
10. Arizona State, 287-300—587
11. LSU, 297-293—590
12. MINNESOTA, 305-297—602
 
 
TUESDAY’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Julia Johnson, Ole Miss, 67-67—134
T2. Calynne Rosholt, Arizona St., 69-70—139
T2. Hannah Darling, South Carolina, 66-73—139
T4. Gina Kim, Duke, 70-70—140
T4. Erica Shepherd, Duke, 68-72—140
T6. Polly Mack, Alabama, 74-67—141
T6. Mimi Rhodes, Wake Forest, 71-70—141
T6. Cindy Kou, Southern California, 68-73—141
T9. Lauren Walsh, Wake Forest, 69-73—142
T9. YuSang Hou, Arizona, 68-74—142
 
T20. JOANNE FREE, MINNESOTA, 76-70—146
T38. GERALDINE WONG, MINNESOTA, 73-76—149
T45. EMMA CARPENTER, MINNESOTA, 77-74—151
T45. GRACE CURRAN, MINNESOTA, 79-78—157
T58. LEAH HERZOG, MINNESOTA, 81-77—158
 
 
For complete tournament results go to:  http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=23847



 

Nick Hunter

Nick Hunter got his start covering sports for the Mankato Free Press while attending Minnesota State University, Mankato. 

He then contributed to several online outlets, including Bleacher Report, prior to turning his focus to golf.

Hunter enters his 11th season covering golf in Minnesota as news editor for the MGA website. He resides in New Prague with his wife and two sons.

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