HANAHAN, S.C. – Senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) had a round for the record books on Tuesday morning during the final round of the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Club in South Carolina.
Delavallade climbed 20 spots on the leaderboard following her bogey-free final round of 64 (7-under) finishing tied for runner-up in the 96-player field. Her 7-under score marks a new personal-best and is a new standard for a single round in Penn State women's golf history, one-shot better than senior Sarah Willis' (Eaton, Ohio) 6-under, 66, during the second round of last year's Nittany Lion Invitational.
Delavallade opened her round with a birdie on the 12th hole and finished the day with four-straight birdies coming in on holes 8-11. Her round of 7-under was also just one shot shy of the overall Penn State golf record of 8-under held by a pair of men's players, Josh Dawes and Charles Huntzinger. The round of 64 is also tied for the fourth lowest in Cougar Classic history.
"I tried to keep the same strategy I had yesterday and focus on one shot at a time," commented Delavallade. "My iron game was solid, but my putting was really on today. I was really happy with the way I managed my energy level throughout the tournament, so I was able to continue going strong until the end."
As a team the Nittany Lions were one of just four teams in red figures on Tuesday posting the third lowest round of the day and moving up a pair of spots with a 2-under, 282. Penn State finished the tournament tied for 12th at 10-over, 862.
Sophomore Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) also climbed over 20 spots in the final round posting a 1-under, 70, to finish the tournament 6-over, 219, and tied for 52nd. Both Willis and senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) rounded out the countable team scores with identical rounds of 3-over, 74. Willis ended the week tied for 39th with a three-round total of 3-over, 216.
"My swing felt great today and I kept sticking my irons close to the hole," stated Nienhaus. "My putting was better today and helped me convert four birdies."
Ole Miss captured the title at 16-under one shot clear of Clemson who gained seven strokes on the Rebels after registering the low round of the day at 7-under. The host College of Charleston were the big movers in the final round climbing six spots and into third at 3-under following its third-round score of 4-under. Florida State finished fourth at 2-under while Miami and Michigan State tied for fifth at even-par for the week.
"Mat was on fire today and it was fun to watch," mentioned head coach Denise St. Pierre. "It was great to see Drew in red figures to, these are the kind of sparks that can lead to fire. Sarah hung in there too on a day where she struggled putting and Taylor got up and in from a deep bunker on her last hole saving strokes for our team score."
Penn State returns home this weekend for the 46th annual Nittany Lion Invitational which returns to the Penn State Blue Course after a one-year stint at the White Course in 2021. Action begins Saturday morning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun.
Full Cougar Classic scoring can be viewed HERE!
