ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – The Santa Clara women's golf team fired a tournament-low and season-low tying round of 294 in Sunday's final round to overcome a six-shot deficit and capture the title at the Firestone Grill Cal Poly Invitational, completed today at the Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande.
The Broncos entered the day in third place six shots behind Northern Arizona but made up the difference and placed four shots ahead of the Lumberjacks to claim their first team title of the season and fourth over the last two years. The final round scored matched the fifth-lowest in program history.
"They played very well today, I'm so proud of them," head coach Krystal Kelly said of her squad. "Tee to green they were very solid. We finished 11-under on the par 5's for the tournament and we made a lot of birdies today so that was fun to watch."
Junior Meghan Shain matched her career-low round with today's even-par 73 to move into a tie for third place with teammate freshman Kristin Le with a 2-over 148, four shots behind medalist Rebecca Bostrom of Cal State Northridge, who ended with a 2-under 144. Le equaled her first round score of 74 today to earn the first top-5 finish of her young career.
Sophomore Annie Freman matched Shain's 73 as the Broncos' tournament low round and moved into a tie for seventh place at 6-over 152. It was her 13th top-10 finish in 16 career events. Junior Monique Riley earned her second straight top-10 finish after carding a 1-over 74 today to end the tournament with a 153 (+7) total to finish tied for 10th.
Playing as an individual, senior Casey Briggs had the best finish and 36-hole score of her career by placing in a tie for 14th after rounds of 78 and 76 left her with an 8-over 154.
Freshman Isabella Salant was the sixth Santa Clara player to finish among the top 20 in the 71-player field with her 157 (+11) total leaving her tied for 20th with seven other golfers.
With the title Krystal Kelly tied Polly Schulze for the most tournament wins by a head coach in school history with six. "It was a great way to finish our fall season," Kelly said.
The Broncos are off until February when they will begin their spring season competing in the Cal State Northridge Matador Invitational on February 9, 2015.
Firestone Grill Invitational Final Team Standings
1. Santa Clara 306-294 = 600 (+16)
2. Northern Arizona 300-304 = 604 (+20)
3. Cal Poly 307-299 = 606 (+22)
4. CSU-Northridge 304-306 = 610 (+26)
5. Southern Utah 308-317 = 625 (+41)
6. Wyoming 316-319 = 635 (+51)
7. CSU-San Marcos 312-335 = 647 (+63)
8. Cal Poly (B) 331-318 = 649 (+65)
9. Cal State Bakersfield 333-323 = 656 (+72)
10. CSU-Monterey Bay 341-320 = 661 (+77)
11. Biola University 344-366 = 710 (+126)
12. Idaho State 364-349 = 713 (+129)
13. UC Santa Cruz 376-382 = 758 (+174)
Santa Clara Final Individual Results
T3. Meghan Shain 75-73 = 148 (+2)
T3. Kristin Le 74-74 = 148 (+2)
T7. Annie Freman 79-73 = 152 (+6)
T10. Monique Riley 79-74 = 153 (+7)
T14. Casey Briggs* 78-76 = 154 (+8)
T20. Isabella Salant 78-79 = 157 (+11)
28. Kaci McCartan* 79-79 = 158 (+12)
T32. Kyleigh Moreno* 78-83 = 161 (+15)
*Played as individual
