Sports
UC Davis Women’s Golf Opens Regional Play from Lubbock in Seventh Place
Story Links LUBBOCK, Texas – Teeing off a day early to avoid potential weather, the UC Davis women’s golf team took to The Rawis Course at Texas Tech to open play in the NCAA Lubbock Regional on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies finished the first round of three in seventh place, carding an […]
LUBBOCK, Texas – Teeing off a day early to avoid potential weather, the UC Davis women’s golf team took to The Rawis Course at Texas Tech to open play in the NCAA Lubbock Regional on Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies finished the first round of three in seventh place, carding an aggregate score of 19-over 307 to open the postseason. With the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships final site at Omni Las Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., UC Davis has its site set on climbing up the leaderboard to reach the Southern California course.
The front nine saw the team at a combined six-over par before the challenging back nine proved to be a tougher test. Senior Abby Leighton paced the team with a 3-over 75 that included birdies on a pair of Par 4s. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native and first team All-Big West honoree closed the day in a tie for 14th individually.
Fellow senior Skyler May came in at 4-over 76, locking in a tie for 19th, also carding a pair of birdies. All five players on the course recorded two under-par holes during the round. The remaining trio on the course in underclassmen tandem of Yu Bai and Vani Karimanal and junior Lauren Calderon each finished the first round at 6-over 78 in the consistent effort down the lineup.
UC Davis played the Par 5s with a combined tally of five under, which rates second in the field of 12 teams. Bai and Calderon led the charge from distance with both women playing Nos. 2, 9, 17 and 19 with a 4.50 strokes per hole average, or two under for the day.
The Aggies bested Purdue by one with Florida Gulf Coast two back from UC Davis after the 18 holes. In the drive to the top five, UC Davis sits one stroke back from Texas A&M and two behind Tennessee and Arizona. Seventh-ranked Wake Forest is atop the leaderboard at 1-over 289 with No. 6 Texas one shot back. Individually, Wake Forest’s Caroline Chacarra and Lousiane Gauthier of FCGU share the lead after putting together rounds of 3-under 69.
The Aggies are making their first regional appearance since 2015. In that postseason run, UC Davis made the most of the opportunity by finishing third in the South Bend Regional, going on to record an 11th place showing in the Championships in Bradenton, Fla.