by Gavin Hall, Santa Clara Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
MARICOPA, Ariz. - After an incredible team effort in the second round, Santa Clara women's golf managed to continue to shoot many rounds in the 70s to finish in the top half of the field in fifth at the inaugural National Golf Invitational.
After an under-par round on Day Two, Claire Choi (76-71-73--220) kept up her form to shoot a 1-over 73 in the Final Round. On the last day, she battled back after a slow start of 3-over through the first four holes by carding three birdies in the next six holes. She tied for third in par-3 scoring out of the 50-player field going 1-over on the shorter holes. Overall, she finished in tied-9th place at 4-over and earned her 11th Top-10 finish.
Earning a Top-20 finish and ending up in T19th place at 9-over was Inara Sharma (75-69-81--225) who couldn't quite keep the fire ablaze after a stellar second round. Her Final Round score of 9-over 81 did include two birdies and she ended up tying for second in par-5 scoring at 4-under on the longer holes. Finishing a shot behind Sharma was Borina Sutikto (77-74-75--226) whose consistent play earned her a T21 finish at 10-over. She was 1-under through 13 holes before carding a string of bogeys to shoot a 3-over 75.
Lauren Shew (75-78-77--230) contributed her Final Round score of 5-over 77 today finishing in tied-31st place at 14 over par. The round included three birdies and eight bogeys as she rounded out her tournament play. Right behind Shew was Audrey Brust (73-77-81--231) who cooled off after two solid rounds on the first couple of days, closing off her tournament with a 9-over 81 in the Final Round. She was able to contribute all three of her rounds to the team totals this week as well.
The team title of the National Golf Invitational went to Penn State as they were 14-over overall while the individual medalist was Iowa's Shannyn Vogler (69-71-71--211) who was the only player who recorded all three of their rounds at or under par. Santa Clara (299-291-306--896) fell back three spots in the rankings to earn a fifth-place finish today at 32 over par. The Broncos also notably led the field in total number of birdies at 38.
