LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 ranked University of Redlands Women's Golf team got their conference portion of the schedule off on the right foot over the weekend taking home the title at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) No. 1 Tournament, hosted by the University of La Verne at El Dorado Golf Club.
Between the fall and spring schedules the Maroon and Grey have now taken home three of their last four tournament titles and have opened up an +11 stroke lead over California Lutheran University heading into SCIAC No. 2, which will take place on April 1-2 in Pomona, CA (Mountain Meadows Golf Club).
The Bulldogs held a one-stroke lead over No. 13 Pomona-Pitzer after the first round on Saturday. Then in the second round the Bulldogs created space for themselves as they shot the lowest round of the field with a 307, four better than No. 26 California Lutheran (CLU) as they beat out the Regals by 11 strokes and finished 13 strokes better than the Sagehens who dropped to third following a 319 final round.
Redlands did not get one of the top two individual finishers but they had a great team effort that included four Top-10 finishes and all five of their golfers finishing inside the Top-18.
Leading the way for the U of R was Iris Liu (Diamond Bar, CA) who came in third overall following a two-day total of 153 as she finished nine over par with a 77-76, moving up two spots between rounds. Liu getting off to a good start this spring is a good sign as she finished the fall schedule ranked No. 124 in Division III after being an Honorable Mention All-American last season and 2nd Teamer as a first year in 2021.
Finishing right behind Liu in a tie for fourth was Andrea York (Oakdale, CA) who shot a 155 (78-77) improving three spots in the field following Round 1. In seventh, finishing only three strokes behind Liu, was Kendall Nicholson (Bellevue, WA) who came into the weekend ranked No. 3 in the country. She posted a 156 (79-77) and bumped up four spots. The final Top-10 finisher was Hannah Jugar (Chula Vista, CA) who went 77-81 (158).
First-year Jizelle Robledo (La Habra, CA) was the final Bulldog to score coming in 18th with a 163, going 86-77 over the two rounds. She had the biggest move between the two rounds, shaving off nine strokes, while bumping up eight spots in the final standings.
The Bulldogs will be off for a month and will return to the links on March 11-12 when they travel to Peoria, Arizona for the George Fox Westbrook Invitational (Westbrook Village Golf Club).