October 1, 2024 • by Dan Davies / Photographs: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics/Stanford/Arkansas Razorbacks/
The Blessings Collegiate Invitational... The Molly Collegiate Invitational... Windy City Collegiate Classic... Pat Bradley Invitational...
Hosts Arkansas took the spoils at The Blessings GC for the second consecutive year, and the fourth in five, nailing an emphatic 33-shot victory over Mississippi State.
The Razorbacks held a seven-shot lead after the first round before pulling away in round two to more than treble their advantage. The Razorbacks then shot an eight-under-par 280 on Wednesday to put a bow on it at 12 under.
‘We had a great plan for this event,’ Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor told The Golf Channel afterwards. ‘We’ve been prepared for weeks for it, starting at the beginning of the school year and I’m just really proud of their commitment to getting out here every day and working at it.’
Maria Jose Marin (above, center) successfully defended her individual crown, finishing six clear of WAGR No.2 Julia Lopez-Ramirez of Mississippi State and Spain, who fired a fine closing 66. Marin’s teammate, Reagan Zblinski, was eight back in third place while a third Razorback, Kendall Todd, shot three under in the last round to finish T4 with Carla Bernat of Kansas State.
Marin, who finished 6 in the National Collegiate Golf Rankings in her freshman year, recently made her LPGA debut in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, where she finished T17.
In addition, the first-team All-American and SEC Freshman of the Year reached the semi-finals of the US Amateur over the summer. In Fayetteville, she put down a marker, firing rounds of 65-73-67.
Stanford, reigning NCAA Champions and runaway leaders in the Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll, opened the season with a convincing 18-shot win over nearest challengers Cal. It was Cardinal’s fourth consecutive tournament victory dating back to the postseason.
Stanford fielded three freshman players in Meja Ortengren, Nora Sundberg and Andrea Revuelta although this trio of debutants could hardly be described as green.
Andrea Revuelta of Spain is No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings — the highest of four Stanford players currently inside the top 25. She was named on the ANNIKA Award Fall Watchlist before hitting a ball in her new team’s colors.
Meja Ortengren is WAGR No. 22 and was also named on the ANNIKA Award Fall Watch List. She played in the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur alongside fellow Swede Nora Sundberg, who won the 2023 European Girls Championship.
It was, though, sophomore Paula Martin Sampredo (above) who paced coach Anne Walker’s new look line-up at Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Club in Seaside, California. The Spaniard, who starred in the National Championship win at Omni La Costa before being named Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, was gunning for her first college win.
She had to get past her two playing partners in the last group out, San Francisco senior Riana Mission, who was eyeing her second straight win of the season, and Vivian Lu of Washington.
The contest went right down to the wire as Sampredo birdied the last two holes (and three of her last four) to tie Mission, who also closed with a 71. The joint medalists finished at seven under par, two shots ahead of a group containing Vu, Kyra Ly (Oregon State) and Constance Fouillet (Cal).
All three Stanford debutants finished inside the top 10; Ortengren was sixth and Revuelta and Sundberg were T8.
Arizona State beat a host of top-25 teams to take the Windy City Collegiate Classic at Westmoreland CC in Illinois. Four Sun Devils players finished inside the top 25 on the individual leaderboard, pushing Coach Missy Farr-Kaye’s team clear of the in-form South Carolina in second place and Southern California in third.
English Curtis Cup player Patience Rhodes proved to be the catalyst for ASU in a final round that was a challenge for the players. A closing 70 (-2), the best score of the round and one of only three under par, saw her climb 21 places on the individual leaderboard and steady the ship.
In the individual tournament, USC freshman Jasmine Koo, formerly ranked No.1 by the AJGA, wasted little time in claiming her first college title in just her second start, finishing at five under par despite closing with a 76 (4 over). Koo, who faced Rhodes in the recent Curtis Cup matches at Sunningdale, finished two clear of Natasha Kiel of Purdue.
Another highly promising freshman, Suvichaya Vinijchaitham of Oregon, followed up her 11th place in the ANNIKA Intercollegiate with a solo third place finish.
Photographs by Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics
The 47th edition of the Pat Bradley Invitational, hosted by Florida International University over the Silver Fox course at Trump National Doral, was won by state neighbors Florida Gulf Coast. It was the second win in a row for FGCU, who shot a program record 834 (-18) over 54 holes to beat Cincinnati by 13 shots.
The Eagles’ previous low 54-hole scoring record was achieved in 2022 when then-freshman Lousiane Gauthier tied a program record with a first round 65 on her way to earning her first medalist honors.
Gauthier again was part of setting the new team scoring record, but this time bettered the individual 18-hole scoring record with a second round 64. She became the second FGCU medalist in as many tournaments (Amelie Alcantara achieved the distinction in the Johnie Imes Invitational), sinking a birdie putt on the 54th hole to secure a one-stroke victory.
The Pat Bradley Invitational is named after the World Golf Hall of Famer, who won 31 LPGA Tour titles during an incredible pro career, and is the aunt of the 2025 US Ryder Cup captain.