Tag: The Blessings Golf Club

Texas A&M men dominate en route to team, individual titles at 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Texas A&M took control in the second round and never looked back.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Texas A&M men’s golf team set the tone from the opening tee shots.

The Aggies, 10th in the Golfweek Sagarin rankings, held a double-digit lead heading into the final round of the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational at The Blessings Golf Club, and they made sure to never let that lead disappear Wednesday. Texas A&M dominated during the second and third rounds, finishing as the only team under par on the week to capture the team title, its second of the fall season.

In addition to the team title, Texas A&M junior Daniel Rodrigues captured the individual title, finishing at 11-under 205 for the week. Sam Bennett, the fifth-year senior who won the 2022 U.S. Amateur, finished at 3-under 213 for the Aggies, which was good for fourth place.

“Daniel has played some really good tournaments and not won, but that changed today,” Texas A&M coach Brian Kortan said. “He’s competitive. He’s diligent to what he’s doing. It was great to see him do that. It’s awesome.”

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of being paired with those from other schools.

The format also caused slow play, with rounds taking about 7 hours to complete.

Texas A&M was well in control from Tuesday’s second round on, and there was never any pressure applied from chasers, like host Arkansas, on Wednesday. The Razorbacks fell behind early and couldn’t recover on the back nine, finishing 11-over 875 for the tournament.

Ole Miss had a strong final round, rallying for a second-place finish in the team competition after a 3-under day, the only team to shoot under par on Wednesday. And it’s in large thanks to Sarut Vongchaisat, who fired a tournament-tying record 7-under 65 on Wednesday. Vongchaisat was 9 under with three holes to play, a number that included eagles on both par 5s on the back nine, but bogeys on Nos. 16-17 brought him back a bit. He made a long par putt on 18 to add a positive finish to the round.

As a team, Ole Miss shot 3 under in the final round and finished at 9-over 873 for the tournament.

Clemson finished fourth at 18 over, and Mississippi State came in a stroke behind in fifth. In the individual race, UNLV’s Caden Fioroni placed third at 7-under 209. Kansas’ Gunnar Broin, who was at 8 under and in second after the second round, shot 6 over on Wednesday and ended at 2 under in fourth.

But the tournament belonged to the Aggies. And it’s something they’ll look to build upon into the spring.

“Yesterday was such a good day, and sometimes it’s hard to come back from that, but we got off to a good start today,” Kortan said. “Blessings gets at you. We weren’t as crisp today, but we put together three really good rounds of golf.”

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Mississippi State women double up, win team and individual crown at 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational

It was a dominant final round for Mississippi State.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As soon as Julia Lopez Ramirez’s putt dropped, a loud barking sound came from the crowd behind the 12th green.

It was a common sound that echoed through the trees and hills that canvas The Blessings Golf Club on Wednesday. Lopez Ramirez, a sophomore on Mississippi State’s golf team, just sank a birdie putt before the barking started. Mimicking a bulldog, which is Mississippi State’s mascot, the sound reverberated through the property every time a player made a birdie during the final round of the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational.

And there were a lot of birdies.

Mississippi State, which is eighth in the Golfweek Sagarin rankings, came from behind to capture its second straight tournament victory, and Lopez Ramirez was a huge reason why. She shot a 6-under 66 in the final round, finishing at 8 under for the week and beating Ole Miss’ Andrea Lignell, the 36-hole leader, by six shots.

“Yesterday was a tough day for me, so I just practiced a lot between rounds,” Lopez Ramirez said. “I got my energy back, as well as my patience, and it paid off.”

Lopez Ramirez led after 18 holes but struggled during the second round. Those struggles, and the ones her team grinded through Tuesday, were nowhere to be seen come Wednesday.

The Bulldogs were the only team to shoot under par on Wednesday and recorded the two lowest team scores of the week.

“The toughness and trust that this team has in themselves is wonderful,” Mississippi State coach Charlie Ewing said. “After a day like yesterday, they really trusted themselves, and they responded.”

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of being paired with those from other schools.

The format also caused slow play, with rounds taking about 7 hours to complete.

No. 10 Ole Miss, which led after Tuesday’s round by two shots, didn’t play poorly during the final round but wasn’t able to avoid costly mistakes.

Arkansas, which shot even-par as a team, finished at 25 over for the tournament and in third place. UCLA (29 over) and second-ranked Texas A&M (31 over) rounded out the top five.

In the individual race, Lopez Ramirez and Lignell were the only two golfers to finish under par. Ole Miss Chiara Tamburlini and Louisville’s Carmen Griffiths tied for third at 2 over.

Meanwhile, for the Bulldogs, the victory sets them up for plentiful success for the remainder of the fall schedule and into the spring.

“We have a lot of confidence,” Ewing said. “That’s one thing as a coach, you love to see your team have confidence. But we also hit the golf shots needed to win. I hope they soak this one up.”

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It’s an Egg Bowl showdown between Ole Miss, Mississippi State after second round of 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational

It’s an Egg Bowl showdown at the top.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There’s nothing like rivalries in college sports.

And after the second round of the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational, two in-state foes have positioned themselves atop the leaderboard heading for a final-round battle come Wednesday.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State are at the top, and each program has different things on the line come Wednesday. For Ole Miss, it would be a big win for a program trying to find its way back to the top after winning the first national championship in any women’s sport in school history in 2021. For Mississippi State, it would be the second victory this fall for the Bulldogs while trying to prove they’re one of the best teams in the country.

“It’s exciting to have opportunities to have success,” Mississippi State coach Charlie Ewing said. “It sounds really easy, but they’re going to have to go out there and compete hard.”

The Bulldogs trail by two shots after the first 36 holes at The Blessings Golf Club. Mississippi State led after the opening round, shooting 1 under, but a second round of 18 over has the Bulldogs, ranked eighth in the Golfweek Sagarin rankings, chasing Ole Miss heading into Wednesday.

Not only is Ole Miss leading the team competition, senior Andrea Lignell is on top of the individual competition. Lignell, a senior, shot 3-under 69 on Tuesday and is at 4 under for the tournament. She leads Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez by two shots.

Lignell said a big turning point was when the men’s team came and followed the women’s team for the final six holes.

“It was absolutely amazing. I absolutely loved it,” Lignell said. “We came out watch them yesterday, the last four holes. It’s just so nice they’re just cheering us on, and I love it. It’s great.”

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of facing those from other schools.

In the team competition, second-ranked Texas A&M is in the mix, too. The Aggies sit at 18 over, with Clemson and UCLA tied for fourth at 23 over.

Individually, chasing Lignell and Lopez Ramirez are California’s Annika Borrelli at 1 over. There’s a three-way tie for fourth between Clemson’s Chloe holder, Texas A&M’s Jennie Park and Arkansas’ Miriam Ayora at 2 over. Park, who is fourth in the Golfweek Sagarin individual rankings, has finished in the top five in her first two tournaments.

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Texas A&M paces field heading into final round of 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Texas A&M has a sizable lead heading to the final round.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Blessings Golf Club hosted the 2019 NCAA Championships, and even before then, it was known as one of the toughest college golf courses in the country.

The home course for Arkansas requires precision on every shot. Any lapse in concentration will likely result in a big score on any hole.

Yet for the Texas A&M men’s golf team, they were about as precise as you could be Tuesday. The Aggies, ranked 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, fired a round of 15-under 273 to vault into the top position of the men’s competition at the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational with 18 holes to go.

Texas A&M was one of only two teams (Mississippi State, 3 under) to shoot under par during the second round at the par-72, 7,700-yard layout.

“We made some timely putts when we needed to and had five guys in it all day,” Texas A&M coach Brian Kortan said. “It makes a big difference when you’ve got five guys that are doing a lot of things right.”

The Aggies are at 11 under after 36 holes, beating host Arkansas by 12 strokes with the final round coming Wednesday.

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of facing those from other schools.

So when Texas A&M got on a roll on the back nine, the players fed off one another. The Aggies recorded 15 birdies on the back nine, with every player recording at least two. Sam Bennett, the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion, has four and shot 4-under 68. Daniel Rodrigues had seven birdies on the day and shot 6-under 66. He leads the tournament at 9 under, one shot better than Kansas’ Gunnar Broin, who shot 1-under 71 in the second round after an opening 65.

Broin couldn’t find rhythm with his putter during the second round, but he did have an impressive second shot into the par-4 seventh, his 16th hole of the day.

“I had 220 in, and it was a little bit longer than I anticipated having,” Broin said. “Coach kind of steered my toward hitting a 5-iron in, and I hit it pretty close to perfect.”

The ball tumbled into the cup, earning him an eagle. He also birdied his final hole of the day.

UNLV’s Caden Fioroni sits in third at 5 under after an even-par 72 in the second round. Arkansas’ Segundo Oliva Pinto is two shots behind Fioroni with Ole Miss’ Sarut Vongchaisit rounding out the top five at 2 under.

In the team competition, Texas A&M is the only team under par, and they have a comfortable lead over second-place and host Arkansas at 1 over and third-place Mississippi State, which is at 9 over for the tournament. Ole Miss (12 over) and Clemson (13 over) sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Wednesday’s final round will be broadcast on Golf Channel from 4:30-7:30 p.m ET.

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Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett enjoying final college season after winning 2022 U.S. Amateur

It has been a whirlwind past two months for Sam Bennett.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sam Bennett was on top of the amateur golf world in August.

Capturing the 2022 U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, was a new top highlight for Bennett, the senior at Texas A&M. It proved to him he was one of the best amateur golfers. That week, he was the best.

Since then, he has returned to College Station for his final season of college golf. Life has returned mostly to normal for Bennett, but it will never quite be the same.

“Those first few weeks were a little hectic getting back,” Bennett said. “Celebrating with some buddies, family and friends, but then having to start school right back up with qualifying, 6 a.m. workouts and all that. But it has been fun getting back with my teammates.”

The fifth-year senior from Madisonville, Texas, decided to return to Texas A&M before his U.S. Amateur victory, but winning the title only strengthened his resume and the Aggies’ lineup this season.

And that strength showed Tuesday at the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational at The Blessings Golf Club. Bennett fired a round of 4-under 68 to move into the top 10 on the leaderboard heading to Wednesday’s final round. He opened with a 3-over performance on Monday, but he and his Texas A&M teammates dominated the field Tuesday to take the lead at the 7,700-yard, par-72 layout.

Aggies’ coach Brian Kortan said Bennett hasn’t changed.

“He’s really comfortable with what he does,” Kortan said. “That’s a guy you like to have around. He just really enjoys playing golf and competing.”

That competition was on full display at the U.S. Amateur. Whether it was club twirls or talking throughout the week how he was the favorite, Bennett isn’t afraid to boast about his talent.

Thus far during his senior season, he finished T-34 at the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin and a T-17 at the SEC Match Play Championship in the stroke play portion. He lost in his match against Auburn in the match play portion.

So, how has life changed for Bennett since winning the U.S. Amateur? Not much. But that doesn’t take away from how special of a week it was.

“I’ve kind of put that past me,” Bennett said. “I mean, I’m the U.S. Amateur champion, but it gave me that little bit of extra confidence to play at the highest stage.”

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Golfweek’s Best 2022: Top public and private golf courses in Arkansas

The top-rated public access course in Arkansas is nestled in the south of the state not far from Louisiana.

Arkansas features plenty of variation in terrain, with plenty of mountainous golf in the north of the state. But to find the highest-ranked public-access golf course in Natural State, head south toward the Louisiana line.

There, in El Dorado, you’ll find Mystic Creek Golf Club, a Kenneth Dye Jr. layout that opened in 2013. Mystic Creek is the top-ranked layout in Arkansas on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public golf.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with the list of top public-access courses among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list is likewise included below.

MORE COURSES: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort|
Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

Arkansas cruises to victory at Blessings behind Kajal Mistry, Cory Lopez

The host Razorbacks ran away for an 18-stroke victory over runner-up LSU.

The only real question still hanging in the balance after the turn on the women’s side of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational wasn’t if host Arkansas end up on the top podium, but only if the Razorbacks would have the lowest score in each of the tournament’s three rounds.

Then, Kajal Mistry and Cory Lopez warmed up and even that point seemed moot.

Mistry birdied five of her last 10 holes and Lopez finished with birdies on three of her final four as coach Shauna Taylor’s squad lapped the field, posting an even-par team score of 864 for the three-day event, which was good enough for an 18-stroke victory over runner-up LSU.

Mistry finished the day with a 2-under 70 while Julia Gregg added a 72 and Lopez a 73. That meant individual overall tournament winner Brooke Matthews, who also carded a 73, nearly didn’t crack the top three on her own team.

Matthews still easily won the individual crown, finishing five strokes ahead of LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad with a three-day total of 10-under 206. The Tigers, led by Lindblad’s 211 and a fifth-place showing from Latanna Stone (218) finished second in the race for the team title.

Wednesday’s low round went to Pimnipa Panthong, the former Kent State star who transferred to South Carolina for her senior year. Panthong struggled out of the gate on Wednesday, dropping a stroke on the opening hole and then adding a double-bogey on No. 4, but she fired a 31 on the back to finish with a 68 on the day. The Gamecocks finished third in the team event, followed by Ole Miss (24 over) and Georgia (31 over).

Marina Escobar Domingo of Florida was even on the day to finish fourth in the individual standings for the tournament.

Tyler Lipscomb leads Alabama to victory at Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Lipscomb rolled in birdies in each of the first three holes as Alabama took the men’s team title at the Blessings.

Alabama’s Tyler Lipscomb finished off the second round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational with a 20-footer for a crucial par. It was just a sign of things to come.

Lipscomb, a 2018 Rolex Junior All-American who’s now in his sophomore season with the Tide golf team, rolled in birdies in each of the first three holes, making the turn at 2 under and then cruising home to a team-best 72 as Alabama took the men’s team title, giving coach Jay Seawell’s team its first team event since the Shoal Creek Invitational in April 2019.

Davis Shore added a 73 while Wilson Furr pitched in a 74 for the winners at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Kentucky’s Alex Goff struggled a bit, finishing with a 76 as he bogeyed No. 17 and then tripled No. 18, but he still took the individual title with a score 210.

Leaderboard: Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Host Arkansas had the hottest hand in the third and final round, combining for a score of one over on the day, but still finished three behind second-place Tennessee. The host Razorbacks were led by Julian Perico, who carded a one-under 71 while Tyson Reeder added an even-par 72.

Tennessee was the one team that appeared within range of catching Alabama and while Hunter Wolcott (71) and Bryce Lewis (72) shined for the Vols, the bottom half of the five-person team didn’t fare as well, with two players failing to crack 80. Wolcott finished in a tie for second in the individual scoring with a three-day total of 212, which tied Texas A&M’s Dan Erickson.

Jack Parrott of South Carolina fired a 70 to lead the Gamecocks, who finished fourth on the strength of a 4-over 282 on Wednesday.

Brooke Matthews with a Blessings home-course advantage proves dangerous

On Tuesday, Brooke Matthews gave Arkansas a big boost. With Matthews’ score helping, the Razorbacks went 1 under as a team and pulled away.

If there’s a venue where a home-course advantage would serve a player well in college golf, it’s Blessings Golf Club. The course sunk its teeth into the best programs in the nation at the 2019 NCAA Championships, and it re-emerged this week as host of the first stop on a three-tournament SEC fall schedule.

That’s a good thing for Arkansas junior Brooke Matthews, who fired the best 18-hole round of her college career on Monday – a tournament-opening 67. She came back Tuesday with one lower, a 66 that instantly bettered Matthews’ personal best.

“Very comfortable out here, it’s my home course,” Matthews told the Golf Channel after the round. “I was just excited to come out here and see what I can do.”

Leaderboard: Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Matthews’ whole day consisted of fireworks. She had three birdies on the front, but really got going on the final stretch of holes. She played Nos. 13-18 in 5 under, which included birdies at Nos. 13, 15 and 17 and a hole-out for eagle on the par-4 16th hole.

Someone had to let her know it had gone in – she was temporarily blinded by the setting sun.

“Blessings is a golf course that you just have to be patient on,” Matthews said. “I wouldn’t say I got off to a bad start but a little bit of a slower start than I would have liked. You can’t force it out here, just have to wait for it to come to you and that’s what I did.”

Summer results suggested something like this was in store for Matthews. She teed it up in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, an in-town LPGA event revered by players on the Razorback roster. She made the cut and finished 49th there.

Matthews also made a run to the second round of match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur in August.

On Tuesday, she gave Arkansas a big boost. With Matthews’ score leading them, the Razorbacks went 1 under as a team and piled on to what became a 10-shot lead on LSU, the next-best team on the board.

South Carolina is third at 16 over and Ole Miss is fourth at 21 over. The margin is also large on the individual leaderboard as Matthews leads LSU sophomore Ingrid Lindblad by five shots.

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In a final-hole blitz, Alabama extends lead to three at Blessings Collegiate Invitational

Alabama will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Wednesday.

As soon as the fall college golf season became a reality in the SEC, Jay Seawell was thinking about competition.

“We’re going to compete as much as possible,” Seawell told Golfweek in September, shortly after Crimson Tide players had returned to Tuscaloosa but before the conference had announced its three-season schedule (of conference-only events).

“Scorebards, inner-squads, guys teeing it up in events, 54 holes even if it’s only 10 guys on our squad. I do think it’s very important to re-energize the competitive gene in them.”

Consider it energized. Alabama will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. The Tide went 6 under as a team on Tuesday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, jumping three spots up the leaderboard.

Leaderboard: Blessings Collegiate Invitational

“We made some putts today. It was great. Any time you play well, you putt well,” Seawell told Golf Channel at dusk after coming off the course as one of the final groups. “This place is so hard and pretty and it really does almost feel like a U.S. Open. You gotta be resilient.”

At Blessings, teams are playing all together in groups of five. Attitudes can go either way in that scenario, as Seawell pointed out. He had a meeting before the tournament to address it.

Alabama demonstrated their cohesion on the 18th green.

First, Davis Shore holed out from a bunker for birdie, his fourth on the back nine to end at 1-under 71. Then Thomas Ponder made a 30-footer for a closing birdie and a 71 of his own. Tyler Lipscomb completed the trifecta by making a 20-foot putt for par for the Tide’s best score, a 3-under 69.

Alabama also counted a 71 from Wilson Furr.

Without mixed-team pairings, Alabama won’t have any kind of look at what their chasers are doing on Wednesday as they try to finish off a team title – what would be the Tide’s first since the Shoal Creek Invitational in April 2019.

“That’s the great thing about golf,” Seawell said. “You don’t play defense anyway.”

Tennessee and Kentucky are right behind Alabama on the leaderboard. Tennessee swung from 8 under on Monday to 7 over on Tuesday and Kentucky slid a spot with a 1-over 289 in the second round – just one shot worse than its opening effort. They are second and third on the leaderboard, respectively, at 1 under and 1 over.

Kentucky’s Alex Goff leads the individual race at 10 under, a number aided significantly by his second-round 65. Goff made six birdies on the front nine (he started on No. 10), including four in a row from Nos. 2-5.

With men’s and women’s teams teeing it up at Blessings, there is also a program trophy to be awarded at the end of the week. Arkansas, the host, leads the race for that title with Alabama landing at No. 7, squarely in the middle of the pack.

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