Event: Peg Bernard California Collegiate
Where: Stanford, Calif.
When: Saturday and Sunday, all day
Who to watch: In UC Davis’ last tournament in O’ahu, Hawaii, Demi Runas posted four birdies in her first 13 holes.
The freshman from Torrance, Calif. helped the Aggies carve a six-shot lead over fierce competition after 36 holes.
Did you know? This weekend’s tournament will be the Aggies’ first competition since Nov. 4. At that tournament, UC Davis posted a convincing nine-stroke win over second place UCLA.
Preview: The UC Davis women’s golf team will try to prove it can repeat these types of successes against some tough competition this weekend at the Peg Barnard California Collegiate Tournament.
The Aggies will take on teams like California, Oregon and Washington with hopes of improving their national ranking.
“We’re ranked No. 22 in the country,” said coach Anne Walker. “We finished the fall with a big win.”
Last November, UC Davis finished first amongst 18 competitors – eight of them ranked in the top 50 – at the Turtle Bay Collegiate Invitational.
Still, the first-place finish is not enough for Walker or her players.
“Our goals are much bigger than No. 22,” Walker said.
The Aggies look to do this by starting the spring with a win, something they were unable to do last weekend when the Gold Rush Tournament in Long Beach, Calif. was canceled due to weather.
The weather is something the Aggies can’t control. So they will put their focus on what they can do.
“My team is well aware that I expect them to be 100 percent prepared,” Walker said. “We talked a lot about the short-game and putting.”
Walker talked about details but still sees the larger picture.
“As long as we walk away Sunday moving in a forward direction, I know we’ll be fine,” Walker said. “I’m excited for the season. I’m really excited for the girls to play and to see how good we are.”
– Matt Wang
