Women’s Golf Goes For Second Straight Title At UC Irvine Invitational

Krystal Kelly with Sarah Busey

Posted: Oct 28, 2018

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Coming off their first team title of the year, Santa Clara women's golf aims for another beginning Monday at the 10-team UC Irvine Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will be contested at the 6,107-yard, par-72 Santa Ana Country Club.

"We will be playing the same five," head coach Krystal Kelly said of her lineup that won the Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational two weeks ago in Tacoma by overcoming a three-shot final-round deficit with a season-best score of 291. The Broncos have won at least one tournament title each of the last six seasons with a total of 13 over that span.

"We're definitely looking forward to playing this week," Kelly added. "The course went through a redesign, so it's totally different that the last time we played here."

Four players finished among the top-20 in Washington with sophomores Emily Sumner and Sarah Busey each claiming a second-straight top-10 finish. Sumner leads the team with a 74.33 stroke average, slightly better than Busey, who averages 74.56.

Sumner's career-low 69 in the final round led to a personal-best 54-hole score of 220 and propelled her to her best finish as a Bronco with a share of sixth-place. Busey grabbed a share of ninth-place her last time out by also recording a personal-best 54-hole score of 221.

Junior Marni Murez and freshman Claire Choi earned a share of 19th-place at the PLH Invitational, while freshman Duong Tran improved her scores over every round in her first collegiate tournament.

Check out updated team and individual stats by clicking here.

If the most recent Golfstat.com rankings hold true, Santa Clara's final tournament of the fall season should be closely contested. Cal Baptist is the highest ranked in the 10-team field at No. 86 with Cal State Northridge the lowest at No. 175. The Broncos are No. 104 in the poll. Top-ranked USC and No. 46 San Diego State will have individuals competing.

Teams and individuals will play 36 holes on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Name: UC Irvine Invitational

Dates (Site): Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 29-30 (Santa Ana, CA)

Host: UC Irvine

Tournament Field (Rank): Boise State (92), Cal Poly (148), Cal State Northridge (175), Cal State Fullerton (152), Cal Baptist (86), Long Beach State (95), Northern Illinois (122), San Diego State (individuals), Santa Clara (104), South Dakota State (142), UC Irvine (136), USC (individuals)

Details: The 54-hole event will be contested over two days in a five-count-four team scoring format. Teams and individuals will play 36 holes on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. A single 18-hole round will be played on Tuesday with 7:45 a.m. tee time from holes one and 10.

Course: Santa Ana Country Club

Yardage/Par: 6,107 yards/Par 72

Website: www.santaanacc.org

Results: golfstat.com