The 25th-ranked UC Davis women’s golf team had a short trip south to face off in the Juli Inkster Invitational hosted by San Jose State at Almaden Golf and Country Club. With four of the top 25 teams in the country participating, and 10 teams in the top 100, the Aggies were able to finish in third place with a total team score of 901 (295-293-313).
“Our goal was to finish under 300 every round, which we were not able to accomplish, but we were able to defeat Washington and UC Irvine,” said coach Anne Walker.
Junior Demi Runas led the Aggies with a total score of 220 (74-69-77), good enough to finish fifth overall individually in the tournament.
“[Runas] had a great tournament. She played 53 holes of fantastic golf and one hole really cost her. I think she is one of the best players in the country,” Walker said.
Freshman Beverly Vatananugulkit (74-72-81) and junior Amy Simanton (72-75-80) both shot scores of 227, tying for 12th place individually. Sophomore Jessica Chulya and freshman Blair Lewis also posted solid scores of 229 (75-77-77) and 238 (81-78-79), respectively.
UC Davis was in second place after the first day of 36 holes with a score of 588 (295-293), trailing the two-time defending tournament champions California by only five strokes.
After posting a 74 for the first round of play, Runas fired a 3-under par 69 — good for third place in the tournament overall. Vatananugulkit and Simanton were both in the top 10 as well after the first day of competition, with scores of 146 (74-72) and 147 (72-75) respectively. The Aggies slipped into third place after the second day of the tournament when 21st-ranked University of Oregon shot the best team score of the day of 295, 18 strokes better than UC Davis’ 313.
UC Davis was still able to finish six strokes ahead of 13th-ranked University of Washington, who shot 907 (296-300-311) over the two days of competition. UC Davis’ Big West Conference rival UC Irvine placed fifth with a score of 909 (301-303-305).
JASON MIN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
