PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Golf team continued their hot play with their sixth win of 2022-23 and their third title in-a-row, as they took down a loaded field of teams at the UC Santa Cruz Invitational that included Golfstat's No. 4, 6, 7, 8, 23, 29, and 49 ranked programs in the country.
On Saturday the Bulldogs shot what would be the lowest round of the invite, a 295, as they held a seven-stroke advantage over fellow Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) member, and No. 7, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS).
Four of the five individual scorers for the Bulldogs sat inside the top-five with No. 15 Kendall Nicholson (Bellevue, WA) in a tie for second following a first round 73, one stroke off the tournament leader from CMS.
No. 7 Hannah Jugar (Chula Vista, CA), No. 57 Iris Liu (Diamond Bar, CA), and No. 14 Andrea York (Oakdale, CA) all tied for fifth with 74s, a mere two strokes off the lead.
The entire field shot 300 plus round scores on the second day of action as the Bulldogs finished with a 310, tied for the third lowest. Despite the relative struggles, the Athenas, who were in second place, shot a 310 as well and were unable to take advantage of the opportunity.
The only team in the upper part of the standings that moved up was No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) who shot a round low 303. The Sagehens though were 10 strokes behind Redlands after round one, so the Bulldogs won the tournament by three strokes 605-608.
There was not much movement in the individual standings for Redlands as Nicholson stayed in a tie for second following a 76, giving her a 149 across her two rounds.
Jugar also shot a 76 as she finished in a tie for fifth with a 150, only two strokes behind the tournament winner, who came from No. 4 George Fox University.
The rest of the finishing order was Liu in a tie for ninth with a 152 (74-78), York tied for 12th with a 154 (74-80), still only six strokes off the leader, and finally Jizelle Robledo (La Habra, CA) moved up a couple of spots into a tie for 29th with a 165 (83-82) as she was the lone scorer for Redlands to improve upon their first-round total.
The Bulldogs did have one athlete competing as an individual, and that was first-year Chloe Phan (Milpitas, CA) who was the tournaments' biggest mover, improving her position by 14 spots finishing tied for 31st with a 166 (87-79). Her second round 79 was tied for the 18th best score of the tournament.
This was the final opportunity for the Bulldogs to prepare for the SCIAC Championship which will be hosted by California Lutheran University on Sunday-Tuesday, April 23-25 at Olivas Links Golf Club in Ventura.
