Gonzaga University
WCC Championships Day 1
Mangrobang Leads Field After First Round At WCC Championships
4/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
SANTEE, Calif. - Jessica Mangrobang is the day one solo leader after the first round of the 2018 West Coast Conference Championships on Monday at Carlton Oaks Golf Club in Santee, Calif.
She holds a one-shot lead over five players with a 73 (+1) in her first round. After bogeying her opening hole, number 10, she birdied four of the last five holes in her first nine, two par-fours, a par-three, and a par-five, to go two-under par on her front nine. She went +3 on the back, but did birdie the par-four fifth hole. She led the field in birdies with five and was second, going one-under, on the par-five holes. Mangrobang is the first Zag to lead after the first day at the WCC Championships since Alice Kim fired a 69 in Bremerton, Wash. in 2014.
Nina Novilla was not far behind with a 75 in seventh place, as she birdied the par-four 11th, and after going +2 on the front, rolled home eight-straight pars to finish and go +1 on the back. Diana Araneta fired an 80 and Francesca Santoni had an 81 as the Zags are in third place at +21, just six strokes off the leader in Pepperdine.
"The golf course is challenging and was windy all day," Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel said. "We held together and kept playing smart and stuck with our plan. Nina made some great putts today, especially on the second nine. Jessica was solid all day and held through the tough final six holes with wind. Our team has played many good rounds this year, but our young group has struggled to put two rounds together back to back. Tomorrow we will be looking to follow today with a good round."
The Zags led the field in birdies with nine and led by 11 strokes on the par-four holes at +9. Santoni was second in the field going +2 on the par-four holes. Mangrobang and Novilla both fired their career-low rounds at the WCC Championships, as both played in their first last year. Araneta and Santoni are playing for the first time this year.
The Zags will tee off beginning at 9:15 am tomorrow in three-person groups with Pepperdine and BYU. Live scoring links are available at GoZags.com.
