Tag: Bailey Davis

Women’s college golf notebook: Jeanne Sutherland leads Nebraska to victory; Ball State’s Kiah Parrott sets program record

Here’s what you missed in the women’s college golf world.

Nebraska women’s golf coach Jeanne Sutherland nearly retired from college coaching.

Last year, she took a job as an associate head coach with the Cornhuskers after spending the better part of the past 30 years leading Texas A&M (1992-2007) and SMU (2011-21). Sutherland took over at Nebraska after Lisa Johnson, who led the Husker program the past three seasons, moved to Portland, Oregon, following her husband, John Johnson, who was named the athletic director at Portland State.

And now, Sutherland’s Nebraska women’s golf team is off to a terrific start to the 2022-23 season.

A week after finishing runner-up at the Green Wave Classic, three shots behind LSU, the Cornhuskers captured the Badger Invitational at University Ridge Golf Course in Verona, Wisconsin. Nebraska, which finished at 1-under 863, was the only team to finish under par for the tournament. It beat second-place Notre Dame and Old Dominion by 11 shots.

“These first couple of weeks have been awesome,” Sutherland said. “The girls have really come in and worked. Everything has fallen into place.”

Sutherland said the team learned a lot after its final round in Louisiana, and it was able to take those lessons and capitalize.

Freshman Kelli Ann Strand, who won in her first collegiate start last week, finished tied for fourth after a 5-under 67 in the final round. She was 3 under for the week. Miu Takahashi finished eighth at 1 under. 

Rutgers senior Leigha Devine and Notre Dame sophomore Montgomery Ferreira tied for first at 7-under 209, setting a new 54-hole scoring record at the Badger Invitational. Devine also aced the par-3 12th hole during the second round.

Leigha Devine
Rutgers senior Leigha Devine after the 2022 Badger Invitational. (Photo: Wisconsin Athletics)

Six-year drought snapped

Ball State junior Kiah Parrott set numerous records en route to her first collegiate victory at the Brittany Kelly Cardinal Classic at The Players Club in Yorktown, Indiana.

What’s more, Parrott became the first Ball State golfer to win an individual title since 2017, and she set a 54-hole scoring record at 9-under 207, beating the old record by nine shots. She had 14 birdies in the tournament.

“Winning the tournament this week means the world, especially because it was our home tournament and the first home tournament I have gotten to play in,” Parrott said.

Loyola-Chicago picked up the team victory, and it was the first for coach Brandy Johnston, who came from Division III Carthage College in Wisconsin.

Wake wins again

Wake Forest collected its second win in as many weeks in come-from-behind fashion at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Demon Deacons shot 12 under in the final round and finished at 21-under 831 for the tournament, beating Central Florida by three shots. Virginia held the 36-hole lead and finished in third at 16-under 836.

UCF’s Tunrada Piddon shot 11-under 202 to win the individual competition, beating Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn and Tennessee’s Bailey Davis by one shot. Wake Forest’s Carolina Lopez-Chacarra finished a shot behind Kuehn and Davis at solo fourth.

More transfer news

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors recently made changes to the transfer portal, including opening and closing dates for specific sports. For men’s golf, the portal will open May 4, 2023, and close June 17 2023. For women’s golf, it will open April 27, 2023 and close June 10, 2023. There will also be a window for golfers to enter between Dec. 1-15, 2022.

In addition, the Division I Council is now permitting athletes who plan to enroll at another program after graduating to enter the transfer portal at any time.

Cameron Jourdan covers college and amateur golf for Golfweek. Got a college or amateur story? Email him at cjourdan@golfweek.com.

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Woodard: When golf’s bright future was highlighted in lopsided U.S. Girls’ Junior final

Why a 6-and-4 junior golf blowout stood out from many majors and million-dollar made-for-TV events.

The last year was chock-full of entertaining golf. What stood out the most from the Ryder and Solheim cups, many major championships and million-dollar made-for-TV events? How about a 6-and-4 junior match just outside the nation’s capital.

If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the gallery back in July at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for the 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior, then Rose Zhang’s big win might seem pretty pedestrian. No matter the outcome, history was going to be made in the 36-hole final. And just like books and their covers, you can’t judge a match purely by its score. Just ask Bailey Davis. The local Maryland talent was aiming to be the first Black American female to win a USGA championship, but her 6-and-4 defeat was more telling of her character than ability (not to mention Zhang’s talent).

An incoming Stanford freshman at the time, Zhang, who went on to win her first three college starts for the Cardinal this fall, opened the morning play with a bogey-free 6-under 64 (with match-play concessions) and went to the lunch break with a 4-up lead. Davis played well, carding an even-par 70 – a score that might be good enough to hold a lead in previous U.S. Girls’ Juniors – with just one real blemish, a double-bogey on the par-5 12th.

“Bailey was making almost every putt she looked at, and I just had to stay patient and keep up with her. said Zhang. “That’s what you have to do with your opponent, and I think that I did that pretty well.”

Davis cut the lead early in the afternoon and hung around for a few more holes before Zhang started doing what she does best: make birdies in abundance. Zhang rattled off three birdies over four holes to take a 6-up lead through 26 holes. Eventually up five with five to play, Zhang’s last opponent of the marathon week was Mother Nature, who stopped play for three hours before Zhang closed out the match on the 33rd hole with, you guessed it, a birdie after hitting the flagstick with her approach from the rough.

After she won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur at nearby Woodmont Country Club, Zhang had been feeling the good vibes in Maryland and had the gallery to prove it. The only player who came close all week was Davis.

“It was amazing having so many people out here. A lot of friends and family and family friends, teachers, coaches, so many people came out to watch me this week, and I am beyond blessed to have them out here,” said Davis of her final-match fans. “I was 6-down at one point and they were like, ‘You got this.’ I was 5-down, five holes to play and they were like, ‘You can do this, Bailey.’ So that meant a lot to me to know they were out here supporting me and they know I could have possibly won.”

“I played a great match today, but Rose just played better,” Davis continued. “We just take from this experience and learn for the next.”

The records will show Zhang as just the eighth player to win both the Women’s Amateur and Girls’ Junior, and the first to win the junior after the amateur. The records won’t show Davis as a winner, instead they’ll show her smiling with her chin up despite defeat and accepting the challenge to improve.

Neither player teed it up for guaranteed money or a large purse. Instead they did so for the purest of reasons, the love of the game, and that’s the kind of theater multi-million dollar appearance fees will never produce.

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As U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up, Bailey Davis hopes she inspires the generation of golfers behind her

“I want to be able to be that person who can inspire others to possibly want to get into the game.”

Bailey Davis made a name for herself last week, both on and off the golf course.

And it’s a name you should get familiar with.

Playing in her home state, the White Plains, Maryland, native made a run to the final match of the 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior, where she hoped to become the first Black American female to win a USGA championship. Even though she ultimately lost in a hard-fought match to the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur, Rose Zhang, Davis’ efforts to diversify golf will hopefully have a ripple effect for years to come.

Before the tournament Davis didn’t have visions of grandeur where she emerged victorious holding the trophy with her signature smile from ear-to-ear. The incoming freshman at Tennessee even joked that whenever Zhang shows up to a tournament, everyone else is playing for second.

“But I think as I‘ve grown with my game and I’ve played against high-level competition like (Zhang), it’s really given me the confidence to say I can go out there and compete against her and I can do well,” said Davis.

How’s that for foreshadowing?

“I really want to be able to win championships, and I want to be able to do well in college and then possibly play professionally after that,” Davis continued. “Because then I want girls to be able to look at me and say, ‘Hey, she kind of looks like me, you know? Maybe I can do it as well.’

“If young girls are looking at the tournaments right now or they’re looking at the college teams, they’re saying to themselves, ‘There’s not a lot of people who look like me, so maybe this sport isn’t for me.’ But I want to be able to be that person who can inspire others to possibly want to get into the game.”

Objective complete.

Davis said her social media has been “insane,” and based on the responses, she’s made an impact on quite a few girls. In fact, after her 1-up semifinal win against Katie Li, Davis was so overwhelmed she started crying (good tears, of course).

Then came the final match. Davis scouted Zhang’s scorecards from previous matches and rounds and knew she would need to make birdies if she had any shot, but birdies were few and far between at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Only two players finished under par during two rounds of stroke play. Davis finished third as the lone player at even par. In the 36-hole final match, she again found herself at even on her scorecard after the morning 18. Given stroke play scores, you’d think she would have been in good shape for the afternoon.

Except her opponent was Zhang, who set the course record at 8-under 62 in the second round to earn medalist honors. The Stanford-bound freshman opened the morning with a bogey-free 6-under 64 (with match-play concessions) and went to the lunch break with a 4-up lead. After a three-hour weather delay in the afternoon, Zhang closed out the match, 6 and 4.

“I kind of surprised myself getting to this point, but at the same time, I knew what I was capable of, and it feels amazing to have reached that and been able to play to my potential this week,” said Davis after the final. “I played a great match today, but Rose just played better. We just take from this experience and learn for the next.”

The records won’t show Davis as the winner. Instead they’ll show her smiling with her chin up despite defeat and accepting the challenge to improve.

Talk about a role model.

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Stanford freshman and world’s No. 1 amateur Rose Zhang makes history with U.S. Girls’ Junior win

Zhang, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, defeated Davis, x-and-x.

The United States Golf Association couldn’t have scripted a better final match for the 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior. No matter the outcome, history was being made on Saturday at Columbia Country Club.

On the one hand you had reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Rose Zhang, who was attempting to be just the eighth player to win both the Women’s Amateur and Girls’ Junior, but the first to win the amateur before the junior.

On the other was local Maryland talent Bailey Davis aiming to be the first black American female to win a USGA championship.

Davis, a Tennessee-bound freshman, put up a strong fight and great performance all week, but it was Zhang who emerged victorious in the 36-hole final, winning, 6 and 4.

The incoming freshman at Stanford opened the morning with a bogey-free 6-under 64 (with match-play concessions) and went to the lunch break with a 4-up lead thanks to birdies on Nos. 4, 5, 11, 12, 16 and 18. Davis played well, carding an even-par 70 in the morning with the only real blemish coming on the par-5 12th hole, where she made double-bogey. The White Plains, Maryland, native hit her approach shot over the green into a bush. When some fans were looking for the ball, it fell out of the bush, and Davis took an unplayable lie. From there she struggled to find the green and conceded the hole.

Bailey Davis hits a shot from the cart path on the 12th hole during the final match at the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md. on Saturday, July 17, 2021. (Photo: Kathryn Riley-USGA)

Davis came out firing in the second 18, earning a conceded birdie on the 19th hole (No. 1) to cut the lead to three. The pair went back-and-forth with pars for three straight holes before Zhang rattled off three birdies over the next four holes to take a 6-up lead through 26 holes.

After just her second bogey of the day, Zhang’s lead shrunk to 5-up with five holes to go. Walking to the 14th tee, play was stopped due to dangerous weather in the area at 2 p.m. ET and then resumed at 5:15 after a three-hour break.

Zhang closed out the match on the 33rd hole where she made birdie after sticking her approach.

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After close call, Rose Zhang to meet Bailey Davis in U.S. Girls’ Junior final

Rose Zhang slips past Paula Miranda in extra holes, will meet Maryland native Bailey Davis in U.S. Girls’ Junior final.

In her first four matches at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, Rose Zhang trailed for a total of one hole (to Yana Wilson on the front nine of her quarterfinal match). That’s despite the oppressive heat and rolling terrain that make Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a tricky venue for the world’s best juniors this week.

But even Zhang, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and the current world No. 1 amateur, isn’t immune to testing situations in USGA championships. By the time the 18-year-old reached her semifinal match against Paula Miranda on Friday afternoon, a rosy run to the final had been spoiled.

Miranda, the player from Mexico who had dispatched Alexa Pano – another favorite – in the Round of 16, led the entire front nine starting with a birdie on the first hole. The tide turned when Zhang won three consecutive holes from Nos. 11-13 but Miranda hardly gave in. A birdie at No. 17 tied the match again and it took two extra holes before Zhang advanced when Miranda made bogey.

“Before I tee’d off I was pretty nervous,” Miranda said of facing the game’s No. 1 player. “That kind of wore off as I kind of became more comfortable with my game throughout the course. . . . I’m glad that I took it this far actually. I’m proud of myself. She’s an amazing player, number one, so, yeah, of course I’m happy.”

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Zhang is now one step closer to a piece of history. Should she prevail in Saturday’s 36-hole final, she’ll be the first player to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Junior in that order.

Asked what she could take from Friday’s match that might help in the next round, Zhang went back to basics.

“I think it’s just a little bit of mechanics and a little bit of fatigue, but I just need to make sure my tempo is good to go,” she said. “I got all the – just have a great impact, and just simple things, fundamentals that I need to work on tomorrow on the range. That’s about it. You really can’t think that golf is super easy every single time.”

Zhang will meet Bailey Davis, a Maryland native who has advanced to the final from the No. 3 seed on the bracket. She dispatched Katie Li on the 18th hole of the semifinals. It was Davis’ first match to go all 18 holes since she needed an extra hole to take down Chloe Johnson in the first round.

“You know, I played in two of these before and I haven’t made the cut, so my goal was to make the cut,” said Davis, who has committed to play for the University of Tennessee beginning this fall. “Then I came into match play with no expectations, and I think that’s why I been doing is well. I haven’t said, ‘Oh, I want to make it to the round of 16 or round of 8.’ I came in with no expectations and I’m just doing the best I can at this point. I’m so excited.”

Regardless of what happens in the final, expect to see both players at the U.S. Women’s Amateur in August. That’s a familiar stage, of course, for Zhang, but for Davis it’s a first.

“I didn’t know that,” she said when informed her play this week earned her an exemption. “You just made my day.”

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U.S. Girls’ Junior Round of 64 features five top-10 upsets, a (potential) $500 eagle and few birdies

Birdies have been few and far between at Columbia Country Club for the U.S. Girls’ Junior, but the upsets were plenty to start match play.

CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Birdies have been few and far between at Columbia Country Club so far this week at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, and the opening round of match play was no different.

Take stroke-play medalist Rose Zhang, for example. The 18-year-old incoming freshman at Stanford was first out Wednesday morning and made quick work of her opponent, winning 6-and-4 by claiming seven holes, only two with birdie.

“Overall I think I played pretty solid. I had a very solid game plan of just trying to minimize any mistakes,” said the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. “I know I am playing against another competitor, and in match play you can’t really think about the first two days. When you go out there you have to be able to bring out your game, and that’s what I tried to do.”

“I just played consistent, par golf, and that really helped me,” said Zhang, whose 8-under 62 on Tuesday was a course record.

Scores: U.S. Girls’ Junior

That match set the pace for the day, with par being good enough to win a lot of the time at the hilly course just outside Washington, D.C. Caddies and members like to joke that there are only two flat lies at Columbia, on the tee and in your pocket.

Five of the top-10 seeds lost and four matches went to extra holes, including two that went to 21 holes. Rianne Mikhaela Malixi beat Kynadie Adams to set up a Thursday morning match against Zhang, while Isabella Van der Biest defeated Lion Higo.

Yunxuan Zhang birdied the 18th hole to take Lauren Sammon to a playoff, where she made another birdie for the win. The dramatic victory of the day came late in the afternoon, courtesy of local talent Bailey Davis. The White Plains, Maryland, native was back-and-forth with Chloe Johnson all match before holing out from 75 yards out for eagle to win on the first extra hole.

“That was probably my best shot of my golf career,” said Davis, who’s bound for Tennessee this fall. “I pretty much knew she was out of the hole at that point, she wasn’t going to make birdie, so I was really just trying to make par, so I said, ‘Just put it on the green, try to put it close if you can, but really we just want to walk away with a two-putt.’”

“My caddie said, ‘If you put it in the hole I’m giving you $500,’ and I put it in the hole.”

The big upset of the day was Avery Zweig’s 4-and-2 defeat of No. 2 seed Xin (Cindy) Kou. Zweig qualified for match play via a 9-for-4 playoff Tuesday night that she almost didn’t return for. The 14-year-old, who made her LPGA debut last week, was at the hotel eating Cheesecake Factory when she realized she had a shot.

“And then my caddie was like, ‘Well, if it’s more than a 4-for-1 I don’t think we’re going to go.’ And then at that time it was 9-for-1 or something, and I said, ‘Well, I at least need to try,'” explained Zweig.

Good thing she did.

Thursday’s Round of 32 matches begin at 7 a.m. ET, with the Round of 16 to follow in the afternoon. The full list of matches can be found here.

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