Westmont College of Santa Barbara placed three golfers in the top 10 and beat Menlo College in a playoff to capture the TMU Danish Classic on the Red and White Courses at Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang.
Westmont’s five players recorded a score 12 on the par-3 18th hole in the playoff with four pars and one score that was discarded, while Menlo had three bogeys and a par that counted for a total of 15.
“It feels great to get the tournament win,” said Westmont Coach Josh Ault, whose Warriors have finished in the top four three times during the Fall Season. “We were leading by nine strokes going into round two today. Our women shot one stroke better as a team today, but Menlo played great and fought all the way back. We had been ahead the whole day, but Menlo tied it up. On the final hole, we had to make a two-footer to keep it tied and put us into the playoff.”
“In the playoff, all five women from the two teams go back to hole 18 and we take the best four of the five scores. All five of our players hit the green in regulation. It was a clutch, convincing victory. They wanted it and they earned it. They were very excited and there were lots of smiles.”
Westmont posted a score of 314-313—627, 51-over-par, in regulation play, which Menlo equaled at 323-304—627, while Hope International University of Fullerton was third at 325-314—639.
The Masters University of Santa Clarita was fourth at 331-329—660, followed by William Jessup University of Rocklin at 339=339—678, and Brescia University of Kentucky at 348-344—692.
“I’m really proud of the way our players competed,” Menlo Coach Mike Givens said. “We had fog on one side of us and smoke on the other, but everyone stayed focused.”
Jessica Burdick of William Jessup, a freshman from Rocklin claimed the first victory of her college career with a score of 74-73—147, 3-over, while Hannah Ulibari of The Master’s was second at 77-72—149, followed by Catherine Batang of Menlo at 74-77—151, Mallory Hopper of Westmont at 78-74—152, and Lou Deltombe of Menlo at 78-75—153.
Isa San Antonio of Menlo shot 81-73—154 to tie for sixth with Elizabeth Oloteo of Westmont, who wound up at 76-78—154, while Serena Singh of Hope International totaled 82-76—158, to tie for eighth with Serena Jonay Garcia of Westmont, who wound up at 79-79—158, and Day Martinez of Hope International, who finished at 81-77—158.
Laurel Hotchkiss led Brescia in a tie for 17th at 84-86—170.
Rounding out the scoring for team champion Westmont were Sydnee Magpoc in 15th at 84-82—166, Charlie Bloom in 16th at 81-86—167, and Gia Jehle in 29th at 92-89—181.
Also scoring for runner-up Menlo were Franchesca Garcia in 19th at 90-82—172 and Trinity Lam in 21st at 87-86—173.
Westmont will close out the Fall Season on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in the PCH Invitational hosted by Menlo at Quail Lodge in Carmel.
For complete results, visit https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=25545
