MELBOURNE, Florida – At the beginning of the college golf season, Kalen Anderson was looking for hints of what would come from a deeply experienced South Carolina team.
The Gamecocks started the final round of the Moon Golf Invitational with an advantage of 10 strokes to 27 below. They reached 30 points in the middle of defense nine after counting three birdies in the par 5 15th. They returned us and then some in par 4 18, a hole flanked on the left by water and on the right by sand.
This leadership allows for some hiccups.
At the top of the South Carolina roster, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard was in a face-to-face battle with LSU sophomore Latanna Stone. Roussin-Bouchard had not made a bogey in 45 holes, but she did two in Nos. 10 and 11. Engaged in a horse race with Stone, and with foursomes contributing to a slower pace, Roussin-Bouchard struggled to keep his head in place.
Scores: Moon Golf Invitational
For Roussin-Bouchard, even a closing of 1 to 73 – which hit the rounds of 63 to 67 – was not enough to get her out of the first position. She beat Stone by three shots for the third individual title of her college career.
“Today was a little more frustrating than the other two days,” she said. “I struggled with my pitch and was on the verge of getting impatient and getting lost in it, so I just tried to stay focused and stay in my bubble. . . . If I can’t get the satisfaction I need personally, what should I do for the team? And what does the team need now in terms of scoring, in terms of birdies? “
South Carolina didn’t even count Roussin-Bouchard’s 73 finals and was still 3 down in the final round, 24 down in the tournament and six shots ahead of second-placed LSU. The back of the lineup showed the kind of consistency needed when the big cannon stops firing.
“Watching others just get into that situation was exactly what I was looking for,” said Anderson. “This is what will really help us, I think, in late spring.”
More than half of the 18 teams at Moon Golf field were left out of the fall season because of COVID. South Carolina, being on the SEC, managed three events in the first half. Experience factors in this regard, but also in what the players bring to the table.
Anderson started with three fifth-year veterans in their training of five women at Moon Golf. Roussin-Bouchard is a second year student with a lot of experience in the French team and as the 4th player in the World Ranking of Amateur Golf.
Only Ana Pelaez, from Spain’s fifth year, did not compete with the team in the fall, opting to stay at home. This freed up a spot on the schedule for freshman Paula Kirner to do all three autumn starts and now, Pelaez’s great personality is a key piece of the puzzle to get back in place.
“It gives us a lot of firepower and depth,” said Anderson.
When the Gamecocks climbed into the team’s van with their trophies at the end of three windy days in Central Florida, the volume of the stereo went up so high that the music was audible from several feet away. Anderson says the culture within this team is one of the closest among the teams she has coached when it comes to balancing support with competition.
“We all live in three different apartments, but close to each other,” said Roussin-Bouchard. “It is a kind of open door. Do you want to go to someone else’s apartment? Just enter. “
Now, whose support is Moon Golf?