LUBBOCK, Texas – Senior Annie Freman shot a tournament-low round of 3-under 69 on Tuesday, lifting Santa Clara women's golf into a sixth-place tie with a 907 total at the Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock, Texas.
The Broncos matched their second round score with a final round 297 to move up three more spots on the team leaderboard. They finished tied with Iowa, 27-shots behind tournament winner New Mexico State.
"Overall, I'm happy with our finish," said head coach Krystal Kelly. "This was a great field and I feel like we held our own. And we beat Oregon in the third round which was a huge accomplishment." The Ducks were ranked 17th by Golfstat at the end of last season.
The Broncos carded the third-lowest team score over the final two rounds, but their first round 313 proved to be their undoing. "We struggled in the first round with the course playing long and the wind made the par 4s play like par 5s," Kelly noted.
Freman mastered the course on Tuesday with her 69 to climb 31 spots on the individual leaderboard. She finished tied for 22nd at 10-over 226.
Junior Kristin Le posted back-to-back rounds of 1-under 71 to end the two-day event as the Broncos' top finisher. Her 6-over 222 left her tied for 10th place, her 12th career finish among the top 10. "Kristin played exceptional over the final two rounds," Kelly said.
A final-round 4-over 76 dropped Kyleigh Moreno from the top 20, but the junior still finished in the top third of the 74-player field with a 10-over 226. Moreno also carded a career-low score with Monday's second round even-par 72.
The Broncos are back on the links Monday and a little closer to home when they compete in the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational at the Almaden Country Club in San Jose.
Santa Clara Final Individual Results
T10. Kristin Le 80-71-71 = 222 (+6)
T22. Kyleigh Moreno 78-72-76 = 226 (+10)
T22. Annie Freman 77-80-69 = 226 (+10)
T55. Keilyn Ing 78-77-83 = 238 (+22)
T67. Chloe Wong 87-77-81 = 245 (+29)
