UC Davis Women’s Golf places second in Big West Championships

Davis just falls short of first place

After a solid sixth place finish at the Chevron Silverado Showdown, the Aggies traveled to Maui, Hawai’i, for the Big West Championships, held from April 19 to 21.

In the first round of the tournament, the Aggies opened with a score of 285, their best opening score ever in a Big West women’s golf championship to date.

Vani Karimanal, a third-year managerial economics major, led the Aggies in scoring, shooting three under par and ending her day at a score of 69. With five birdies in her first round, she was tied for second place on the leaderboard.

Lauren Calderon, a fourth-year design major, tied fifth overall with an opening score of 71. Second-year Yu “Yoyo” Bai opened her round with an even par of 72, tying in 10th place. Elina Kuang, a fourth-year neurobiology major, shot a 73 to place 12th. Michelle Ho, a first-year computer science major, came in 27th on the leaderboard with a score of 76.

The Aggies finished their first round under three par and with a combined 16 birdies to place them at the top of the leaderboard, alongside California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO).

The Aggies fought to stay within the top two in the second round, with a combined score of 298.

Kuang performed well with three birdies at holes six, seven and 12 to lead the team in scoring and help keep them in championship contention. With a better performance in the second round, she was able to jump eight spots and into a fourth place tie.

Despite shooting a 75, Karimanal was able to remain in the top five with her previous score of 69, helping her tie in a fourth-place position. Calderon placed ninth with a score of 75, giving the Aggies a third player within the Top 10. Ho finished her Monday with a score of 80, while Bai posted a 77 to contribute to the overall team’s score.

The stage was set for Tuesday’s final round of the tournament, with the Aggies trailing their division rival, Cal Poly SLO.

In the third round of the tournament, the Aggies attempted to rally. Calderon gave the team another much-needed low score of 70, evening her total tournament par.

Both Karimanal and Kuang shot 72, evening both their overall pars and keeping the championship hope alive for the Aggies. Bai finished her round with a score of 75, eight above her total par. Ho finished the final round with a score of 76, sixteen above her total par.

Despite their consistency and persistence throughout the tournament, the Aggies fell short of first place. They finished second overall for the second year in a row, behind the back-to-back champions Cal Poly SLO.

Calderon, Karimanal and Kuang tied in fifth place, giving Davis three Top 5 tournament players in the All-Tournament team for a third year in a row.

Despite not achieving the outcome they wanted, the Aggies finished the tournament with the best score on the par-5 holes. Calderon achieved a tournament-high of 40 pars, and Karimanal tied for the best score on the par-5 holes.

The Aggies ended their season just short of the top spot, but with nevertheless outstanding performances throughout the tournament.

Written by: Alexia Navarro — sports@theaggie.org