So many of the world’s best female amateurs are playing well heading into the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but no one had a better final performance leading into the event than Kendall Todd.
The senior at Arkansas shot 11-under 61 on Sunday in the final round of the Clemson Invitational at The Reserve At Lake Keowee in Sunset, South Carolina. Todd had 11 birdies in the final round, which started Saturday and finished Sunday, and moved 11 spots up the leaderboard for a solo second finish, one shot behind Ohio State’s Kary Hollenbaugh.
The 61 is the lowest 18-hole score in program history and lowest score to par in program history. In addition, she tied the NCAA record for lowest score in relation to par, set in September of 2023 by N.C. State’s Lauren Olivares Leon, when she became the first woman to shoot 60 in college golf history.
Todd, ranked 12th in the NCAA golf rankings and 32nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, becomes the sixth player to shoot 61 in the history of women’s college golf. The others:
- 61 – Anna Zanusso, Denver University: Second round of the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona, on Feb. 23, 2020
- 61 – Julia Johnson, University of Mississippi: Third round of the Battle at the Beach in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, on Nov. 3, 2019
- 61 – Bianca Pagdanganan, Gonzaga: Second round of the Pizza Hut Thunderbird Invitational in George, Utah, on March 17, 2017
- 61 – Esther Lee, University of Colorado: First round of the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sept. 12, 2016
- 61 – Mariah Stackhouse, Stanford: Second round of the Peg Barnard Invitational in Stanford, California, on Feb. 17, 2013
Todd’s finish helped Arkansas finish second, 10 shots behind Ohio State. The win for Hollenbaugh is her third this spring. She came in at 16 under for the week, finishing one stroke ahead of Todd.
Last summer, Todd advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now she heads to Augusta National looking to build on her record-tying performance.
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