Big West Conference Championship
Cal Poly Battles to Second-Place Finish in Big West Conference Finals
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
FINAL RESULTS (pdf)
LAHAINA, Hawaii – The Cal Poly women's golf team earned its highest finish ever in 16 years of competition in the Big West Conference Championship.
Coach Sofie Aagaard's Mustangs, who led after both the first and second rounds, settled for a second-place finish Tuesday at the Kapalua Bay Golf Course on the island of Maui.
UC Riverside, which trailed Cal Poly by three strokes entering the final round, overcame the deficit with a four-person 296 total, the best round by any team in the tournament, for its first Big West women's golf title while the Mustangs posted a final-round 303 aggregate, their best of the tournament, to finish four shots back.
Third place went to UC Davis, whose six-year reign atop the Big West came to an end despite a final-round 297, the second-best round posted by any team during the three days of competition.
UC Riverside's 54-hole total was 914 strokes, 50 over par, with Cal Poly at 918 and UC Davis at 921.
"I'm proud of this team," said Aagaard, in her first season at the helm of the Mustangs. "Very proud. We finished the tournament with the lowest round score for our team and battled to the end.
"Riverside had a good day at Kapalua with a freshman scoring two under par to seal the deal," Aagaard added. "A second-place finish at conference is a good achievement for this team and we have a lot of great things to look forward to in the future."
Capturing top individual honors was Paige Lee of UC Davis, who led the first round but entered the final round one shot back of Kassidy Teare of Long Beach State.
Paige carded a final-round 71 on the 6,012-yard, par-72 course for a three-day four-over-par 220 total, edging Teare by one shot. Teare posted a 74 Tuesday. Third place went to Isabella Leung of Hawaii with a 73 for a 225 total.
Cal Poly's top finisher was Desiree Gillaspy with a final-round 77 and a 228 total, tied for sixth place with Hannah Facchini of UC Riverside.
Senior Madison Hirsch (pictured above) posted the best round by a Mustang in the tournament, a 73 to climb six spots into eighth place alone with a 229 total.
Sophie Bergland finished tied for ninth place with a final-round 77 and a 230 total while Jamie Harada claimed a spot in the group tied for 11th place with 231 totals after a final-round 76.
Lucy Robson was the fifth member of the Mustangs and finished 23rd with a 237 total following her final-round 78.
Fourteen of Cal Poly's 15 rounds in the tournament were in the 70s, best in the field.
Hirsch finished No. 1 in the field in par-3 scoring at plus one and seventh in par-5 scoring at minus one while Harada was sixth in par-4 scoring at plus seven.
Harada's nine birdies topped the field of 40 golfers while Hirsch, Bergland and Gillaspy all recorded 34 pars, tied for No. 5.
Following the final round, Aagaard was named Big West Coach of the Year while Hirsch earned second-team all-conference honors. Harada earned honorable mention praise. Teare was named Big West golfer of the year.
UC Riverside advances to the NCAA Division I women's regionals which are held at four sites this year from May 5-7. This year's regional sites include Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.; Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas; University Club in Baton Rouge, La.; Shoal Creek at Shoal Creek, Ala.
The six-day NCAA Women's Golf Championship is scheduled for May 20-25 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Selections announcement will be Monday, April 25, at 3 p.m. PDT on Golf Channel and streamed live on the Golf Channel website. Seventy-two teams and 24 individuals will be selected to compete at one of four regional championships, each featuring 18 teams and six individuals.
