On Monday and Tuesday this week, the Clan’s women’s golf team travelled down to Pleasanton, California for the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout competition. In only the second event of the year after a long winter, SFU continued to shake off the snow and ended the competition with a solid fifth-place finish.
They were lead by Belinda Lin, a junior, who shot rounds of 78 and 77, respectively, which was good for a ninth-place individual finish. She was in 12th place after the first day of the tournament, but finished with a strong second round to move up in the standings. Seeing her perform well is great for the Clan, as she was one of the team’s strongest golfers to end 2017, where she finished sixth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships.
Just behind Lin was junior Emily Leung, who finished with rounds of 77 and 80, good for a 16th place individual finish. This was certainly a strong finish, but look for Leung to continue to improve during 2018, as she was the GNAC champion to end 2017.
Behind her were Michelle Waters, Estee Leung, and Jaya Rampuri, who rounded out the top five for SFU. Waters finished tied for 21st with rounds of 78 and 81, Leung was tied for 35th with rounds of 85 and 77, and Rampuri finished 80th with rounds of 87 and 91.
The Clan was the highest-placed team from the GNAC in the competition, and should continue to do well in conference play this season. They finished at 57 shots over par, with 633 total strokes taken at the Callippe Preserve Golf Course. Ahead of them were California Baptist University (+35, 611), Academy of Art (+38, 614), Cal State San Marcos (+42, 618), and Cal State Monterey Bay (+53, 629). Tied with SFU in fifth place was Sonoma State. It is important to note that all five teams are from sunny California, and therefore have had the benefit of being able to play golf more frequently in the off-season. The Clan should continue to improve as the season goes on.
SFU will be heading back down to California on March 19, when they will be taking place in the Otter Invitational. The tournament will span over two days, and will be hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay.
