Big West Golf Closes Competition with Big West Championships

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4/27/2012

UC Davis collected its third consecutive Big West Women’s Golf Championship on Tuesday at the San Luis Obispo Country Club with a three round total of 898, outdistancing second place UC Irvine by 13 strokes.

Three Aggies finished in the top five, led by individual tournament medalist Bev Vatananugulkit.  The freshman birdied three of the final four holes on the 6,169 yard course to fire a final round 73 and outduel junior teammate Amy Simanton for the title.  Vatananugulkit shot a 4-over par 220 for the tournament with rounds of 75-72-73.  Simanton shot a 6-over 222 and had a third round score of 74.

Vatananugulkit is the third straight Aggie to claim the Big West Women’s Golf Championship individual title, following Alice Kim in 2011 and Chelsea Stelzmiller in 2010.  Simanton finished second to Stelzmiller at the 2010 championship.

UC Davis is the fourth program in Big West women’s golf history to win at least three straight championships.  San Jose State captured 10 straight titles from 1987-96 and New Mexico State followed from 1997-2000.  UC Irvine won three straight titles spanning 2005-08.

UC Irvine shot a three round score of 911 followed by third place Cal State Fullerton, which went 319-294-307 to finish with an aggregate 920.  Rounding out the seven-team field was Long Beach State (924), Cal Poly (931), Cal State Northridge (936) and UC Riverside (950).

Michelle Yang of UC Irvine tied the tournament course record for lowest round as she fired a 1-under 71 to move up seven spots into third place on the individual leaderboard.  She finished with a three round total of 224.  Two other players – Ronnie Valerio of UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton’s Neomi Hunt – initially set the record with 71s of their own on Monday.

Cal State Northridge’s Margo Dionisio, Cal State Fullerton’s Taylor Fowler, Long Beach State’s Simone Hoey and Runas all tied for fourth at 227.

Men’s Golf Gears Up For Big West Championship:  The Big West Men’s Golf Championship starts Sunday, April 29 and goes through Tuesday, May 1 at the La Quinta Resort, Mountain Course in La Quinta, Calif. for a three-day event with all nine participating conference teams.

Defending champion, UC Davis will look to claim their third title in the past four years at the 2012 Big West Tournament while top-seeded Long Beach State and runner-up Pacific bring in ample competitive conference marks of their own this season.  Pacific walked away with second last season just 24-over par (888), while Northridge tailed an 895 over three-rounds of play.

In individual competition, UC Davis’ Austin Graham walked away the top medalist carding a 6-under par 210.  It was the second tournament win for the senior as he finished with a consistent 70 par on each day of play.  Cal State Northridge’s Nick Delio set a course record with a 5-under 67 on day two, but came up short for the second place slot.  Claiming third was Cal Poly’s Bryan Pierce with an even-par 216.

Anteater Invitational Review: Long Beach State won the title with a score of 862, St. John’s was second at 870 and San Jose State third at 874.

Kevin Lim from Long Beach State was medalist with a 1-under total of 212 after shooting 70 in the final round.  He edged teammate Kevin Roy and San Jose State’s Jay Myers by one shot as they finished at even-par 213.