In what is likely a preview of the Pac-12 Championship later
this spring, Southern California, No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings, grabbed a five-shot lead over cross-town rival
UCLA, the No. 1 team in the country, after two rounds of the Bruin Wave
Invitational, played in cold and windy conditions at San Luis Obispo Country
Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Monday.
The Trojans, coming off a solid runnerup finish to Florida
in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate, grinded out the low round of the
morning, a 12-over 300 over the 6,323-yard, par-72 San Luis Obispo layout, and
were one of just two teams to break 300 in the afternoon with a 10-over 298 for
a 22-over 598 total.
The host Bruins, behind individual leader Lilia Vu, a junior
from Fountain Valley, Calif., bounced back from an opening-round 306 with the
best round of the day in the afternoon, a 9-over 297 to leave them five shots
behind Southern Cal in second at 27-over 603. UCLA is coming off a really
impressive victory over an absolutely loaded field in the Northrop Grumman
Regional Challenge earlier this month.
No. 54 San Diego St., the non-Pac-12 interloper among the
top six, had rounds of 302 and 308 to sit in third place at 610, seven shots
behind UCLA.
Defending champion Stanford, ranked fourth, had rounds of
303 and 309 to leave the Cardinal in fourth place at 612. But even 14 shots out
of the lead, you can best the rest of the field will be keeping a wary eye on
Stanford.
No. 18 Washington, the 2016 national champion, is two shots
behind Stanford in fifth at 614 after rounds of 308 and 306. No. 19 Colorado is
another five shots behind the Huskies in sixth at 619 as the Buffaloes posted a
solid 304 in the opening round, but fell back in the afternoon with a 315.
Southern Cal lost its best and most experienced player when
Robynn Ree, a junior from Redondo Beach, Calif. finished tied for fifth in the
LPGA Qualifying School’s final stage and embarked on her professional career.
But the SoCal kids have hardly skipped a beat.
The Trojans were led Monday by Jennifer Chang, a freshman
from Cary, N.C. who is tied for third in the individual standings at 1-over 147
after improving off an opening-round 76 with a 1-under 71 in the afternoon. There’s
absolutely a ton of outstanding freshman players all around the country and
Chang is one of them.
Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, is alone
in sixth place for Southern Cal at 7-over 150. Corpuz had the best round of the
morning for the Trojans with a 1-over 73 before falling back a little in the
afternoon with a 77.
Gabi Ruffels, a freshman from Australia, is tied for seventh
at 7-over 151 with rounds of 76 and 75. Aiko Leong, a sophomore from Honolulu,
Hawaii, is tied for 10th at 152 after rounds of 75 and 77. Rounding
out the Southern Cal lineup is Alyaa Abdulghany, a freshman from Newport Beach,
Calif. who is tied for 20th at 155 after improving off an
opening-round 80 with a 3-over 75 in the afternoon.
So let’s review, that’s five Southern California players in
the top 20, three of them freshmen and two of them sophomores.
UCLA’s Vu, the No. 2 player in the Women’s World Amateur
Golf Ranking (WAGR), fired the only sub-70 round of the day in the opening
round with a 3-under 69. Her 1-under 71 in the afternoon gave her a 4-under 140
total and a five-shot lead in the individual standings. She was the only player
under par after two rounds.
Chasing Vu is Stanford’s Albane Valenzuela, a sophomore from
Switzerland and the No. 5 player in the Women’s WAGR. Valenzuela defeated Vu in
the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur down the coast at San Diego Country
Club last summer on her way to a setback at the hands of Texas senior Sophia
Schubert in the final. Valenzuela was also the runnerup in the European Ladies
Amateur, a stroke-play event.
Valenzuela had rounds of 72 and 73 for a 1-over 145 total.
Backing up Vu for UCLA is Mariel Galdiano, a sophomore from
Pearl City, Hawaii who shared third place with Southern Cal’s Chang at 3-over 147.
Galdiano, a member of the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team that fell to Great Britain
& Ireland at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in suburban Dublin, bounced back from
an opening-round 77 with a 2-under 70 that was the best round of the afternoon.
San Diego State’s Sara Kjelker, a freshman from Sweden, is
alone in fifth, two shots behind Chang and Galdiano, at 5-over 149 after
improving off an opening-round 76 with a 1-over 73 in the afternoon.
It probably should be noted that UCLA is teeing it up
without two of its top players, Patty Tavatanakit, a freshman from Thailand,
and Clare Legaspi, a sophomore from the Philippines, both of whom teed it up in
the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific, which concluded Saturday in Singapore. Tavatanakit is No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR and is a real star, but UCLA has
enough talent at San Luis Opispo to win this thing without Tavatanakit and
Legaspi. The Bruins are that good.
Tuesday’s 18-hole windup figures to be a real shootout and
reports are the weather is going to be a little more SoCal-like.
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