VISTA, Calif. – Vanguard women's golf played its last shootout in the Golden State this season, competing at the Fujikura Spring Invite over the past two days. The Blue and Gold finished 13th out of the 13 groups with a total team score of 991 (342-324-325).
Theresa Shaw snared her first eagle of the spring and landed in a tie in 18th, as the highest of the five Lion competitors. #16-ranked Cal State San Marcos outpaced the pack of nationally ranked opponents with an impressive 881 score that was 18 strokes better than runners-up #37 Simon Fraser. The individual champion was not quite as straightforward, as #38 Western Washington's Lauren Lee (67-76-78) went the distance against CSUSM's Carmella Carlisi, winning on playoff holes with par on the 18th hole.
The Course: Shadowridge Golf Club was designed by David Rainville and can be a challenge for golfers of all skill levels. Most holes feature tee boxes that change the approach to the green daily, with some holes requiring an attack from various directions. A par 72, the facility runs through a housing community and has both bunkers and lakes at strategic places to further test golfers.
What Happened? Shaw's eagle came in her second round, which turned out as her sharpest. She started the course with a birdie, then issued her eagle one hole later on a par-four 368-yarder. Shaw would close the invite with rounds of 78-74-77 and used hulking 38 pars, which was tied first at the event to stay atop the pack. She was also tied 15th on par fives, going even, and tied 19th on par fours (+10).
Next was
Kaitlin Anderson, who totaled 250 strokes over the three rounds, taking 61st. The sophomore was six strokes better through her second run through the course. She also had half of her birdies in the final round for a strong finish. She tallied six birdies, 18 pars, and was tied 15th on par three holes (+1).
Brooke Carpenter was 67th and, like Anderson, also saw steady improvements through a tough course. Her scores of 86-87-82 were built through 18 pars, with half of them coming on the last round. Carpenter also came up with two birdies.
Grace Kiger and Rylee Hubbard were tight finishers, taking 72nd and 73rd, respectively. Kiger had 21 pars, which was the second highest among VU golfers, dishing out 11 in her last round to net a total score of 266 and squeeze up a spot on the final day. Hubbard had her best marks on round two (91-82-96), where she had two of her three total birdies. She would close the invite with 17 pars and just three strokes shy of an even exchange with Kiger.
What Was Said? A battle on a tough golf course against tough competition," shared Head Coach
Jeff Anderson. "We will use this time off to really reset and get ready to finish strong for the remainder of our spring season and to finish strong at the PacWest Championships."
What's Next? The Lions will take a three-week hiatus, then open April with the RJGA Spring Shootout in Goodyear, Arizona, from April 3-4.
