Despite Back Nine Struggles, Zags Take Fourth at Sahalee
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
SAMMAMISH, Wash.—It was a tale of two nines for the Gonzaga women's golf team during Wednesday's final round of the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, but even with the uneven play, the Zags still saw their best-ever showing at the tournament held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
The Zags finished fourth behind the only three teams in the field with higher rankings, according to Golfweek. No. 27 Gonzaga counted 606 shots in all, 30 strokes above par. They were in second through the first half of the round as well, leading No. 4 Stanford after eight holes.
"We're not happy with how we played the back nine today," said Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel. "We pressed and hit at pins we shouldn't have hit at, and we let our emotions get the best of us when it started to go bad. We need to learn from this day."
Despite the stumbles on the back nine—the Zags were at +4 for the day after hole No. 9 and ended at +24—Gonzaga captured fourth place in the tournament, their highest finish at the University of Washington-hosted event. The rank easily surpasses seventh-place ties in 2011 and 2012.
"Still, fourth place in this event is good," Rickel said. "Obviously we wanted to finish higher, but we lost to three really good teams."
Raychelle Santos ended the tournament with her second top 10 finish of the year, tying for eighth at 147 strokes (+3). She counted 76 of those Wednesday, playing the course at 4-over-par during the final round.
A couple of Zags stayed with each other for the entire tournament as Ciera Min and Dania Uy ended both rounds tied with each other. The two tied for 22nd with equal scores of 152 (+8). They both shot 6-over-par 78s on Wednesday. Min tallied her third top 25 finish in as many tournaments and is the only Zag to do so.
Alice Kim came next for the Zags, tying for 31st with 155 strokes (+11). The senior shot 80 (+8) during Wednesday's final round despite playing the front nine at even par.
Rounding out the Gonzaga lineup, Angela De Villa finished tied for 56th with a two-day total of 163 (+19).
Washington won its own tournament with a two-round total of 571, five strokes under par. The Huskies' SooBin Kim completed the wire-to-wire victory in the individual contest with a collective score of 136, eight strokes under par and nine clear of second place.
The Bulldogs will be back in action Sunday, Oct. 26, when they begin the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown in Las Vegas, Nev. That tournament will go for three days at Stallion Mountain Golf Club.
