Aggies prepare for NCAA Regionals following sixth consecutive Big West Championship title
The three-day tournament at the El Macero Country Club ended victoriously for the Aggies, who won their sixth consecutive Big West Championship title on Tuesday. Holding a 29-stroke victory, the women of the UC Davis golf team individually posted among the lowest finishes of all competing universities, with four of five players finishing in the overall top five.
Junior golfer Andrea Wong finished first of all 40 golfers in the tournament, taking home the Big West accolade. Following second place Raquel Ek from the University of Hawaii, sophomore Paige Lee took third on the leaderboard after shooting a 216 overall. Junior Betty Chen and senior Blair Lewis rounded the top five with scores of 217 and 218 for fourth and fifth places respectively.
UC Davis began the tournament on a strong note on Sunday. Lewis finished at four below par, the best score of all universities for the day. Also below par was Wong with an initial day score of 71. The University of Hawaii kept UC Davis on their toes, finishing with just three points below the Aggies’ 288 in the overall of the first round.
Despite increased winds, the Aggies extended their lead through the second and third rounds. The Aggies rounded an overall score of 281 in the second, a full nine points above second placed University of Hawaii. In the third round, the Aggies posted an overall of 289, a full 17 points over runner-up Hawaii.
The final leaderboard saw UC Davis in first, University of Hawaii in second, followed sequentially by Long Beach State, UC Riverside, Cal Poly, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine and CSU Northridge to complete the top eight spots in the tournament.
Following the big win, UC Davis’s lead scorer, Wong, announced her thoughts regarding the high performance.
“I think I did well because I put myself in good positions. The par five’s were pretty short this week for me with my length, so I really capitalized on those and took advantage. I had some solid looks at eagle and ended up with two-putt tap-in birdies which are always nice,” she said.
Wong believes it’s too early for a team celebration just yet.
“The season is definitely not over and we still have work to do to prepare for post-season. The real celebrations will take place if we make it to nationals,” she said.
After leading UC Davis to victory, head coach Anna Temple was named Big West Coach of the Year. This is the second tournament title for the Aggies under Temple.
“I think the improvement we’re seeing every week is awesome and I think going into NCAA regionals, this is a good place to start,” said Temple. “We still have a lot of work but I think it’s great for the team to see their hard work in some specific areas is paying off.”
The Aggies look forward to the NCAA Regionals beginning May 7.
Photos by Katie Lin.
