SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Competing in its opening tournament of the spring campaign, the San Diego State women's golf team remains in sixth place at the Bruin Wave Invitational after carding a 29-over-par 605 on Monday during the first two rounds at San Luis Obispo Country Club.
Darkness suspended the second round, with three teams—Oregon, Cal Poly and New Mexico—caught between holes 13 and 18 on the par-72, 6,266-yard course layout.
However, the Aztecs managed to complete both sessions with nearly identical scores of 302 and 303 and find themselves four shots behind Arizona State and Northwestern, which are tied for fourth at 25-over 601, while UCLA and Stanford share the second position at 23-over 599. Oregon, which has three players with suspended rounds, currently leads the team standings at 16-over.
Individually, SDSU was paced by Fernanda Escauriza (Asunción, Paraguay) and Gioia Carpinelli (Boppelsen, Switzerland), who landed in the fifth spot after each carded a 4-over 148.
Escauriza opened with a 71, highlighted by a team-high six birdies, including back-to-back conversions on the par-3 14th and the par-4 15th, which ranked among the four toughest holes of the day. After sitting atop the leaderboard, however, the Aztec junior slid back four places thanks to a second-round 77.
Escauriza was even in the afternoon session after making par at the par-3 17th just prior to the turn, but five bogeys over her remaining 10 holes precipitated her drop.
Conversely, Carpinelli vaulted 22 places in the standings after offsetting an opening-round 76 with a 72. Despite two morning birdies, including an impressive drain on the par-4, 395-yard No. 2, which ranked as the third-toughest hole of the day, the Aztec sophomore was plagued by six bogeys.
Unfazed, Carpinelli cleaned up her scorecard in round two, posting 15 pars and two birdies, including a successful make on the par-4, 354-yard No. 4, which ranked as the fifth-most difficult green of the week thus far. However, a double bogey on the par-4 No. 7 prevented a steeper ascent.
With their scores, Escauriza and Carpinelli find themselves four strokes behind Oregon's front-runner Kathleen Scavo (E), who has completed 15 holes of round two, while Ducks teammate Petra Salko (+2) and Washington's Sarah Rhee (+2) are tied for second, followed by Arizona State's Olivia Mehaffey (+3).
In addition, Sara Kjellker (Hollviken, Sweden) sits four shots in back of her aforementioned SDSU teammates in a tie for 23rd at 8-over 152. The Aztec sophomore opened with a birdie at the par-5 10th during the morning session but was shut out the rest the way, suffering four bogeys en route to a 75. She was also limited to one birdie in round two at the par-3 17th, stumbling to a 77 thanks to four additional bogeys, as well as a double at the par-4 No. 7.
Elsewhere, Kitty Tam (Hong Kong, China) landed in a tie for 50th at 13-over 157 on cards of 80-77. The Aztec senior recorded her lone birdie of the day during the opening round at the par-3, 147-yard No. 8.
Making her first varsity start was freshman April Ranches (San Diego, Calif.), who ended the day in 77th at 25-over 169 on rounds of 84-85.
The Bruin Wave Invitational resumes on Tuesday with the completion of the second round at 7 a.m. PT, before continuous play into the final round, where SDSU will tee off alongside Arizona State and Northwestern, beginning at 8:15 a.m. PT on hole No. 1.
Bruin Wave Invitational
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Day One Results (All completed unless noted)
San Luis Obispo C.C.
Par 72, 6,266 yards
Team Standings (Top 6 of 15 teams)
1. Oregon...296 (+16) through holes 12-18 Rd. 2
2. UCLA...298-301—599 (+23)
3. Stanford...299-300—599 (+23)
T4. Northwestern...295-306—601 (+25)
T4. Arizona State...308-291—601 (+25)
6. San Diego State...302-303—605 (+29)
Individual Leaders (Top 9 of 78 players + SDSU)
1. Kathleen Scavo, Oregon...73 (E) through hole 15 Rd. 2
T2. Sarah Rhee, Washington...71-75—146 (+2)
T2. Petra Salko, Oregon...73-73—146 (+2)
4. Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State...76-71—147 (+3)
T5. Fernanda Escauriza, SDSU...71-77—148 (+4)
T5. Gioia Carpinelli, SDSU...76-72—148 (+4)
T5. Bethany Wu, UCLA...75-73—148 (+4)
T5. Aline Krauter, Stanford...73-75—148 (+4)
T5. Mika Liu, Stanford...74-74—148 (+4)
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T23. Sara Kjellker, SDSU...75-77—152 (+8)
T50. Kitty Tam, SDSU...80-77—157 (+13)
77. April Ranches, SDSU...84-85—169 (+25)
Women's Golf in Sixth at Bruin Wave Invite
