Lorena Rossettin’s return from injury gave Rutgers women’s golf the kind of lift that can change the feel of an event in a hurry.
In her first varsity tournament in more than 15 months, the senior posted back-to-back 2-under-par 69s and finished tied for 22nd at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C. Rossettin’s 13 birdies tied for fourth in the 96-player field, and she was one of only 16 players to log at least two rounds under par.
Rutgers also made a move on the team side, climbing two spots on Tuesday to finish 14th among 18 teams. The Scarlet Knights’ final-round 288 was the 11th-best score of the day and came in front of three ranked programs: No.
20 UCF, No. 41 NC State and No.
33 LSU. Rutgers finished ahead of Big Ten rival Wisconsin.
The event itself was packed with heavy hitters. The field included two top-10 teams in No.
4 Florida and No. 5 Arkansas, 10 top-50 programs, 11 teams that played in last year’s NCAA Regionals and five that reached the NCAA Championships.
Florida won the team title at 16-under-par 836, while No. 21 Tennessee finished second at 6 under and No.
26 Baylor was third at 5 under. Florida’s Jessica Guiser took medalist honors at 6-under-par 207.
“This was a nice showing for us,” said head coach Kari Williams. “We bounced back after a sluggish opening 18 and fought hard to climb the leaderboard in rounds two and three.
Yeamans Hall is an incredible golf course that has a steep learning curve, and we did well amongst these teams that have years of experience at this event. Putting and course management were our points of emphasis heading into the tournament and I thought we improved from last week.”
Rossettin’s finish headlined a Rutgers lineup that steadily found its footing over the final two rounds. On Tuesday, she strung together four straight birdies from No. 10 through No. 13 and also picked up birdies at Nos. 6 and 8 to help fuel her jump of 14 spots on the leaderboard.
Junior Joline Truong also closed well, shooting even-par 71 in the final round and finishing tied for second with 41 pars across her 54 holes. Truong’s Tuesday round included two birdies and 14 pars.
Classmate Judy Amano added one of the week’s flashiest moments for Rutgers, holing out for eagle on the par-5 fourth hole. She was one of five players in the field to record an eagle.
Amano finished the event with seven birdies after posting a three-over-par 74 in the final round. Senior Emily James also shot 74 on Tuesday, while redshirt senior Grace Lu added a birdie on No. 17 to cap her final round.
Rutgers’ progress was visible from the start of the tournament. In the opening round, Amano led the way with a two-over-par 73, highlighted by her eagle on No. 4 and a birdie on No.
- James followed with a four-over-par 75 and a team-best four birdies, while Rossettin and Truong each carded 76s and Lu finished with a 78, including three birdies.
The second round brought the biggest scoring jump for the Scarlet Knights, who posted the eighth-lowest score of the day at 3 over. Rossettin again led the charge with a 69 and a team-high six birdies, including four over her final 13 holes.
Lu and Truong both shot 72, with Lu making four birdies and Truong posting 15 pars. Amano and James each added 74s.
By the time the final round was over, Rutgers had worked its way into a stronger finish against one of the deepest fields it will see all season.
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