Mariel Galdiano and Patty Tavatanakit finished 1-2 and led top-ranked UCLA to a lopsided 33-stroke victory over Pepperdine in the Golfweek Conference Challenge on the Fazio Course at Red Sky Ranch and Golf Club Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colo.
The Bruins, coached by Carrie Forsyth, posted a score of 277-284-271—832, 32-under-par, setting school records with their final-round and overall scores, while Pepperdine finished at 287-287-291—865, followed by Denver at 293-295-285—873, Campbell at 286-293-297—876 and Southern Methodist at 299-297-282—878.
Virginia Tech was sixth at 297-309-276—882, followed by Georgia at 298-296-290—884, Texas Christian at 294-303-291—888, East Tennessee State at 296-298-298—892 and San Diego State at 306-295-294—895.
Sacramento State finished 12th at 302-302-299—903 and UC Riverside was 14th at 308-295-309—912.
Galdiano, a junior from Hawaii, claimed her first college victory with a score of 70-68-65—203, 13-under-par, while Tavatanakit, a sophomore from Thailand who won the Annika Collegiate for her fifth college victory last week, wound up at 68-70-67—205.
“All parts of my game were working pretty well,” said Galdiano, who claimed the gold medal and helped the United States win the title at the World University Games in Taiwan in August. “Overall my mental game was a lot stronger than usual today. I knew I was making a lot of birdies and a lot of opportunities were out there, but I just tried to stay grounded.
“I’m so proud of our team. Last week … we were 26 under and finished second). This week we were 31. So it just goes to show how we can keep getting better and better with every tournament.”
Mary Weinstein of Denver was third at 68-74-64—206, followed by Hira Naveed of Pepperdine at 71-70-69—210, while Lilia Vu of UCLA shot 70-72-70—212 to tie for fifth with Hee Ying Loy of East Tennessee State, who wound up at 70-72-70—212.
Clare Legaspi of UCLA totaled 68-73-72—213 to tie for seventh with Brigitte Dunne of SMU, who finished at 75-72-66—213, while Emma Svensson of Central Arkansas was ninth at 75-72-67—214, and Kennedy Pedigo of SMU shot 73-70-72—215 to tie for 10th with Tereza Melecka of East Tennessee State, who came in at 72-69-74—215.
Gioia Carpinelli led San Diego State in 12th place at 73-70-73—216, Sofie Babic of Sacramento State tied for 13th at 70-74-73—217, and Jakeishya Le of UC Riverside tied for 25th at 70-75-75—220.
For complete results, visit http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=16367
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