COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – Gonzaga women's golfer
Grace Lee took medalist honors at the 2023 Coeur d'Alene Resort Collegiate Invitational Tuesday. The sophomore totaled a 200 (-13) setting a new tournament and program 54-hole record in the sixth annual event hosted by Gonzaga.
Lee opened the event with an 18-hole record round of 62 (-9) on Sunday, before back-to-back rounds of 69 (-2) Monday and Tuesday. She finished with 18 birdies over the three rounds, the most in the 73-golfer field, and had the best averages over the course's Par-3 (2.60, -6) and Par-4 holes (3.93, -2). The Bellevue, Wash., native was six-under (4.58) on the Par-5 holes, which was second in the event. Her opening round 62 was one stroke off the program record set in 2017. Lee set the 54-hole program record, which was previously 209 set in 2019.
The previous individual record was set in the inaugural event by Colorado's Kirsty Hodgkins at 203 (-10). Hodgkins and her teammate Robyn Choi set the 18-hole record also in 2017 at 65 (-6). Lee's first round 62 (-9) featured 11 birdies and five pars.
Gonzaga tied for third as a team at 13-over (865). The Bulldogs led the event after a first round 284 (E) Sunday. GU followed with a 291 (+7) and a 290 (+6) in Rounds 2 and 3. The Zags were seven-over (3.09) on the course's Par-3 holes, which was third in the 13-team field. Gonzaga also totaled 43 birdies as a team, which ranked fourth in the tournament.
The Bulldogs'
Chaewon Baek tied for 13
th at two-over (215). She carded a 68 (-3) in the opening round, with four birdies and 13 pars. She made 39 pars in the event, which was the third-most in the field. The junior was one-over (72) in the second round, and four-over (75) in the final round.
Esther Yoo and
Darby Rickel finished in 43
rd and 51
st. Yoo was 13-over (226), while Rickel was 16-over (229). Yoo made four birdies and eight pars in a two-over (73) second round. Rickel carded a 72 (+1) on Day 3 with three birdies and 11 pars.
Vanessa Zhang (+26, 239) placed 71
st, and
Taylor Mularski was 69
th at 21-over (234) as an individual.
San Francisco's Eva Pett was second in the tournament at seven-under (206). Abigail Leighton of UC Davis was third at three-under (210).
UC Davis took the team title with the third-lowest 54-hole total in tournament history. The Aggies were the only team under-par at seven-under (845). San Francisco placed second with an 860 (+8) team total.
Gonzaga heads to the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational next in Tacoma Oct. 2-3. The Bulldogs are the defending champions of the event that will be played at the Tacoma Country Club. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
