March 20, 2012
In a rain-shortened event, the San Diego State women's golf team dropped into 16th place in the final standings through 36 holes Tuesday at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo Inn. The Aztecs posted a final-round 323 after opening with a 306, giving them a two-day total of 53-over 629 at the par-72, 6,267-yard Rancho Bernardo Inn Championship Golf Course.
Only one of the seven SDSU players participating, including two who competed as individuals, improved on the leaderboard. Junior Christine Wong (Richmond, B.C.) was the top finisher, tying for 30th place at 9-over 153. She had eight bogeys offset by a pair of birdies for a 78, after notching pars on 16 of her 18 holes in the first round.
Aztec senior Malin Enarsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), who was tied for ninth entering the day, got into some trouble just before making the turn to the front nine, notching a quadruple bogey on the 16th hole, followed by a bogey and a triple bogey. She pulled off her lone birdie on the par-3 fourth before another tough three-hole stretch put her at 13-over for the day and in a tie for 61st in the tournament.
SDSU junior Gina Clark (Murrieta, Calif.) posted her second consecutive 80 to tie for 69th place and freshman Amy Alston (Mission Viejo, Calif.) trimmed three strokes off her day-one total to move from 80th into a tie for 75th with a 163. Junior Alessia Knight (Bologna, Italy) finished out the tournament in a tie for 77th with a 164, while sophomore Rebecca Schneider (Cave Creek, Ariz.) and redshirt freshman Kristina Lynn (Carlsbad, Calif.) rounded out the contingent in 82nd and 90th place respectively.
Third-ranked USC rallied to claim both the team and individual titles, winning by two strokes over No. 8 Arizona State with a 14-over 590, following its second consecutive 295. Trojan Sophia Popov garnered medalist honors as the only golfer to end up under par at 2-under 142 to edge Texas A&M's Patricia Garcia (144 (E)) by two strokes.
SDSU will take 10 days off before traveling to the PING Arizona State Invitational, March 30-April 1, at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz.
The Battle At Rancho Bernardo Inn
San Diego, Calif. - Rancho Bernardo Inn Championship Course (Par-72, 6,267 yards)
Final Results Through 36 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 4 of 16 teams, plus SDSU)
1 No. 3 USC 295-295-590 (+14)2 No. 8 Arizona State 295-297-592 (+16)3 No. 13 Texas A&M 302-294-596 (+20)4 No. 19 California 303-294-597 (+21)16 No. 41 San Diego State 306-323-629 (+53)
Top Three Individuals (Top 3 of 90 players)1 Sophia Popov, USC 71-71-142 (-2)2 Patricia Garcia, Texas A&M 72-72-144 (E)3 Jennifer Hirano, Miami 74-71-145 (+1)
San Diego State GolfersT30 Christine Wong 75-78-153 (+9)T61 Malin Enarsson 73-85-158 (+14)T69 Gina Clark 80-80-160 (+16)T75 Amy Alston 83-80-163 (+19)T77 Alessia Knight 78-86-164 (+20)T82 Rebecca Schneider* 81-85-166 (+22)T90 Kristina Lynn* 82-91-173 (+29)*=competing as an individual