The San Diego State women’s golf team notched a fourth-place finish this week at the Bruin Wave Invitational at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California. Sophomore Sirene Blair tied for second place with senior Anica Yoo of Oregon State University at 5 over for the tournament.
The 6,173-yard private track was a challenge for nearly every player in the 15-team field. Senior Erynne Lee of the University of California, Los Angeles took home the medalist title with an even-par 216 and was the only player in the field to avoid an over-par score. In fact, not one of the 81 participants carded multiple rounds under par.
“There aren’t a lot of birdie holes,” Aztec head coach Leslie Spaulding said. “There are a lot of holes where if you’re in the wrong place, it’s an automatic bogey. You really have to manage the golf course in order to score well on it and I think my team did a really good job of managing the course.”
SDSU, ranked 26th on GolfStat, turned in a 45-over-par 909 which was two strokes lower than No. 14 Stanford University and six strokes lower than 23rd-ranked Pepperdine University. It was the Aztecs’ fourth top-5 finish of the year. The University of Washington secured its second consecutive team victory at 26 over par.
After turning in a 73 and 75 in Monday’s doubleheader, Blair fired a 73 in Tuesday’s final round to climb seven positions on the leaderboard and secure her third top-five finish in six events this season.
“Sirene finishing second was a great way to finish out the tournament,” Spaulding said. “We’re really happy with the finish and this team has an incredible future.”
Blair tied for 42nd place last week at the UC Irvine Invitational and was bumped to 146th in the rankings, but experienced a big jump to No. 108 after besting 18 players inside the top 100.
Junior Emma Henrikson’s final-round 78 knocked her down eight spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 13th at 9 over. Henrikson was unable to mount a solid finish for the second tournament in a row, as her rounds of 71, 76 and 78 were near mirror images of the 71, 78 and 77 she posted last week at the UCI Invitational.
Henrikson’s second-round 76 on Tuesday featured six birdies in her first 12 holes, but they were negated by 10 bogeys including five straight on holes 13 through 17. 60th-ranked Henrikson led the field in birdies with 13 and tied for the lead in par-5 scoring with a 4.67 stroke average. As a team, the Aztecs led the tournament in total birdies with 36.
Freshman Mila Chaves finished in a six-way tie for 17th place at 11 over after firing rounds of 76, 75 and 76. Chaves was second to last in par-5 scoring for the tournament with a stroke average of 5.58.
Senior Paige Spiranac tied for 47th place at 20 over for the tournament. After opening with an 11-over-par 83 on Monday, Spiranac calmed things down in round two and shot a 75 that featured 14 pars. Her play didn’t transfer over night, unfortunately, and she carded three bogeys, two double bogeys and a triple bogey on her way to a final-round 78.
Freshman Georgia Lacey’s 29-over-par finish placed her in a tie for 69th place. Lacey recorded rounds of 85, 82, and 78, and scored just one birdie in 54 holes of play.
The Aztecs will now prepare for a head-to-head match play event with Yale University at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla next Wednesday.
