Mesones Shoots 62, McCauley 63 as Gophers Go -17, Finish 2nd

College

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Luisamariana Mesones set a University of Minnesota team record last week by shooting an 8-under-par 64 at Furman University Golf Club in Greenville. S.C. It gave the freshman from Peru a 54-hole total of 209 in the Lady Paladin Invitational, and that was good enough for a second-place finish.

That 18-hole scoring record didn't last long, however. It was broken on Sunday -- twice. 

Bella McCauley, the other freshman in the Gophers' lineup, shot a 7-under 63 at Princess Anne CC in the final round of the Evie Odom Invitational, which helped the former Minnesota state high school champion -- and MGA Girls Junior champ --  from Inver Grove Heights recover from a first-round 77 and finish alone in fifth place at 207 (77-67-63). But Mesones had an even better round on Sunday. She shot 62 -- the new Gopher record -- and finished second at 203 (73-68-62).

The 62 and 63 by the two Gophers were the low scores of the day.

Mesones and McCauley both played the last 36 holes of the tournament in 130 strokes, also a record.

Minnesota also got 69s from seniors Emma Carpenter and Leah Herzog, and threw out a 70 by senior Grace Curran. That's something the Gophers have never done before. They ended the day with a team score of 263 (17 under), which is yet another team record. 

They started the day in sixth place, 17 behind the College of Charleston, the tournament leader. With their record-setting final round, the Gophers passed four teams and nearly caught Charleston, but came up two short and finished second.

Charleston won the team title with a cumulative 843. Minnesota was second at 845, and South Florida was third, seven behind the Gophers at 852. Sacramento State was fourth at 853, and Penn State, one of two other Big Ten teams in the 15-team field, was fifth at 857. (Indiana ended up in 10th at 870.)

Charleston sophomore Emma Schimpf, a former two-time South Carolina state high school champion, was the medalist. Rain caused delays in the first round, which took the better part of two days, and it caused problems for the players, resulting in much higher scores than were shot in the second and third rounds. But Schimpf's game seemed immune to the hostile weather, and she opened with a 67. No other player broke par in the first round.

She followed that with a 69 and closed with a 65 for an aggregate of 201. As in most college tournaments, there was a shotgun start, but Schimpf went off No. 1. After six holes, she was even par, but she birdied the 146-yard, par-3 seventh and the 510-yard, par-5 eighth and added three more birdies in the last 10 holes to hold off Mesones, who started on No. 7.

Mesones birdied the seventh and the par-5 10th (529 yards) and became a threat to Schimpf by making three birdies in a row on the back nine -- the par-4 13th (389), par-3 15th (181) and par-4 16th (297). She made it four birdies in five holes with a 4 at the 528-yard, par-5 18th, and added two more birdies over the first six holes on the front nine. The first of them came at the 352-yard, par-4 third, and she capped off her 62 with a valedilctory birdie at the 470-yard, par-5 sixth.

That gave her a two-stroke margin over the third-place finisher, Alexis Florio of Indiana. She closed with a 64 for 205. 

South Florida's Melanie Green shot 65 on Sunday and finished fourth, one ahead of McCauley at 206.

McCauley started her round with a birdie at the par-5 eighth (510 yards) and birdied two of the first three holes on the back nine, the par-5 10th and the 290-yard, par-4 12th. She parred the last six holes on the back nine, but then birdied No. 1 (381, par 4) and No. 2 (180, par 3), and she concluded her 63 with birdies at the par-5 sixth and the par-3 seventh. 

Carpenter's closing 69 got her into a tie foat 214. Curran tied for 53rd at 222, and Herzog tied for 58th at 224. 

  

  

 





Evie Odom Invitational

At Princess Anne Country Club

Par 70, 5,824 yards

Virginia Beach, Va.

Final results

1. College of Charleston      291-274-278--843

2. Minnesota                       307-275-263--845

3. South Florida                    299-280-273--852

4. Sacramento State            296-278-278--853

5. Penn State                      300-274-283--857

T6. James Madison            295-282-282--859

T6. East Carolina                294-282-283--859

8. Princeton                         290-286-289--865

9. Middle Tennessee           297-288-281--866

10. Indiana                         307-281-282--870

11. Old Dominion               305-288-279--872

12. Coastal Carolina          305-287-281--873

13. North Florida                317-285-280--882

14. Charlotte                       305-291-293--889

15. High Point Univ.             324-289-281--894

Individuals 

1. Emma Schimpf, Charleston          67-69-65--201

2. Luisamariana Mesones              73-68-62--203

3. Alexis Florio, Indiana                    72-69-64--205

4. Melanie Green, So. Florida          75-66-65--206

5. Bella McCauley, Minnesota        77-67-63--207

6. Mathilde Delavailade, Penn St.    72-66-70--208

7. Kate Owens, James Madison       70-69-71--210

T8. Caitlin Maurice, Sacramento St.  73-71-67--211

T8. Danielle Modder, East Carolina   72-69-70--211

10. Oda Sofie Kilsti, East Carolina    74-69-69--212

T14. Emma Carpenter, Minnesota  76-69-69--214

T53. Grace Curran, Minnesota        81-71-70--222

T58. Leah Herzog, Minnesota          82-73-69--224