The successes of the Spanish golfers continue as the Augusta National Women’s Amateur approaches. Carolina López Chacarra and Rocío Tejedo have been the latest to shine brightly in their universities’ two commitments in Aiken, South Carolina, and Austin, Texas.
Chacarra delivered an outstanding performance at the Old Barnwell Derby, a match play format tournament that featured some of the best universities in the United States, where the Madrid native secured victory with Wake Forest. The competition took place this Monday and Tuesday. Carolina played three matches with a record of two wins and one draw. Undefeated.
The Madrid native, who is having an extraordinary season with one win, a second place, a third, and a fourth in seven individual tournaments, convincingly defeated Welsh golfer Carys Worby from Auburn, by 3 and 2. She dominated the duel from start to finish. She then tied a sensational golf battle against English player Lottie Woad, the world’s number one amateur who plays for Florida State University. It was a match of power against power, with constant shifts. The English player was one up with two holes to go, but a spectacular birdie by Chacarra on the 17th brought the score level again. They would end up sharing the point by tying the 18th hole with par. Arguably the best match of the tournament.
To cap off her fantastic week, Chacarra defeated Swedish player Louise Rydqvist, ranked 9th in the world, by 2 and 1 in the final match. Once again, Carolina dominated the match from start to finish and added a point that ultimately proved decisive for Wake Forest’s victory. Another notch for the Spaniard in a great season, as she seems to have left behind the physical problems that plagued her before the start of the current course. Her worst result in seven individual tournaments has been 21st.
Similarly, Wake Forest has once again demonstrated its exceptional performance in match play. Their record in the last 17 matches (since May 2023) is 15 wins and two losses. Match play is very important in the NCAA, as it is the team finals’ format.
The other major protagonist of Monday and Tuesday’s rounds was Rocío Tejedo. The golfer from Castellón continues to dazzle with her consistency in her first season in the United States. This Tuesday, she finished in fourth place at the Betsy Rawls, a tournament held at the University of Texas course in Austin.
Tejedo once again demonstrated her tremendous solidity from tee to green in a tournament played in almost extreme conditions due to the wind. She carded a par round on the first day, repeated with par on the second, and finished with a score of +4 in a final round where the tournament’s average score was +7. A massacre. She finished in fourth place alone, just three strokes behind Lauren Kim, ranked 22nd in the world.
It was Rocío’s seventh individual tournament in her freshman season, and her sensational record is four top 5s and seven top 20s. Seven out of seven. Rock solid.
Grey week for Josele Ballester in California
On the other hand, Josele Ballester participated in the Pauma Valley, an NCAA tournament held on Monday and Tuesday in California. He started the tournament very well with a round of two under par, which included six birdies. However, rounds of +3 and +4 set him back significantly in the standings, finishing in 45th place. Things haven’t gone well for the golfer from Castellón in the last two weeks, just after his brilliant performance at the Mexico Open on the PGA Tour. In this Pauma Valley, South African Christiaan Maas won, and Luke Potter returned to compete after his incident with Rory McIlroy at THE PLAYERS. Potter finished T23.
Un campeón universitario es expulsado del THE PLAYERS tras una mofa a McIlroy
