Playing in familiar territory at San Luis Obispo Country Club, the Cal Poly women’s golf team struggled to keep up with some of the country’s elite programs despite respectable performances from a number of players.
While the Mustangs’ team total of +58 failed to crack the Top 10 at the Bruin Wave Invitational, it was good for third place among the teams competing that were without a national ranking.
Tournament co-host No. 6 UCLA brought home both the team and individual titles. Their team total of +4 was 14 strokes clear of second-place finisher No. 15 Arizona State. Louise Ridderstrom of UCLA claimed the individual title with a score of -3 after shooting a tournament-low 67 in the final round on Tuesday.
The Mustangs had three players finish in a tie for 31st place. Sophomores Desiree Gillaspy and Jamie Harada, along with senior Madison Hirsch, finished at +15 for the tournament’s three rounds. Junior transfer Lucy Robson carded the low round of the tournament for Cal Poly, shooting an even-par 72 in the second round.
The 16-team field featured top-tier programs such as No. 9 Washington, No. 11 Stanford and No. 14 California from the Pac-12 and No. 13 Oklahoma State from the Big 12. Cal Poly finished first among Big West Conference teams competing, ahead of Hawaii (+73), CSU Northridge (+91) and UC Irvine (+96).
Next up for the Mustangs is the Sacramento State Invitational in Roseville on March 21.