There was no one finer than Carolina Lopez-Chacarra at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, as the Wake Forest freshman sensation finished off a 4-under 209 on Wednesday with a final-round 69 to win the individual and team title for the Demon Deacons at Love Cove Club on Hilton Head Island.
Texas freshman Bohyun Park took second with a 2-under 211, while Arizona State’s Calynne Rosholt and Vanderbilt’s Celina Sattelkau tied for third at 1-under 212.
After taking a six-stroke lead into the final day, Wake Forest turned in a solid 290 to defend its title with a three-round total of 9-over 861. Host South Carolina shot a blistering 1-under 283 to surge into second place at 870, and Arizona State placed third with an 872.
Chacarra was red-hot to start her day, rattling off an incredible four straight birdies after a par at the first. She dropped a shot on the par-5 sixth but showed her mettle by quickly rebounding with a birdie on the seventh. Chacarra began to feel some pressure on the back nine after a pair of bogeys put her lead over Park at just two strokes, but the freshman stayed steady with a pair of clutch pars on 17 and 18 to wrap up the individual and team victory.
“I was pretty comfortable with my feelings over the course and over the ball,” Chacarra told The Golf Channel. “I was leaving myself a lot of birdie chances. I had a great start with four birdies in my first five holes, so that pushed me to keep going, and I started a bit rough in the back nine, but I was confident in my game, so I believed in that.”
Teammate Rachel Kuehn found her groove after a 3-over front nine, making a key birdie on the par-five 15th and avoiding any mistakes down the stretch to card a 2-over 73. Lauren Walsh and Mimi Rhodes both ran into trouble early with a pair of double-bogeys and shot a combined 9-over par, but Chacarra’s brilliant 2-under 69 was more than enough to maintain the Demon Deacons’ lead and capture a second straight Darius Rucker Intercollegiate title.
Furman sophomore Sophia Burnett, a former Hilton Head Prep standout, finished in a tie for 35th place at 9-over par, and Paladins teammate and Hilton Head Island resident Savannah Hylton turned in a terrific 3-over 74 to close out the week.