By In its first event of the fall 2017 season, the Long Beach State women’s golf team finished in fifth place at the Colonel Bill Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colorado after the final round on Tuesday.
The 49ers were led by junior Haley Tygret, who shot a 3-under par 69 in the final round on Tuesday.
“I was really proud of how everyone played this week,” Tygret said. “It was a pretty big challenge, but we all played our games and I feel good about our first tournament.”
Tygret’s 2-under par score of 214 for the week also placed her in a tie for sixth place, the fifth top-10 finish in her career. Head coach Joey Cerulle was very pleased with Tygret’s final round performance in Colorado.
“I want to say that’s the first time she has ever shot a final round under-par,” Cerulle said. “Our mantra on the course this week was, ‘finish’ and [Tygret] really embodied that on Tuesday.”
LBSU’s next top score was a three round 219 from senior Jennifer Yu that placed her 13th in the field of 84 golfers. Consecutive 1-under par 71’s in her second and third rounds helped Yu recover from an opening round 77 on Sunday.
“[Yu] is a great golfer and an even better leader of this team,” Cerulle said. “She was able to keep up her confidence from round-to-round and that was the key.”
Both Tygret and Yu helped the team to a combined score of 877, 21 shots behind the tournament winner New Mexico State (856). The top-5 finish already matches their total from the 2016-17 season.
“It’s obviously a great start to the year and lets us know that we are headed in the right direction,” Cerulle said. “We actually left a lot of putts out there which tells me there is even more room to grow.”
LBSU sophomore Euna Pak finished tied for 24th at 5-over par 221, senior Savannah Knox shot 9-over par 225 finishing tied for 41st and junior Cara Barker ended the week tied for 49th at 11-over par 227.
Sophomore Holland Shourds (T43-226) and junior Breann Fox (T72-235) also competed as individuals in the tournament.
New Mexico State’s Pun Chanachai fired off a 9-under par 63 in the second round on Monday to help record a 205 and seal a three stroke victory at the Colonel Bill Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic.
The 49ers will return home and begin qualifying rounds for the Coeur d’Alene Resort Invitational hosted by Gonzaga in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Sept. 26 and 27. After a great start to the season, LBSU is poised to turn in another good week.
“I am excited for the future because we have a ton of depth on the team which hasn’t been the case in a long time,” Cerulle said. “We’re in a great position to put knowing all of the options we have for our starting five.”
