The Idaho Vandal women’s golf team got their season underway this week at the Colonel Wollenberg’s Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colo.
The tournament marked the first official tournament for the Vandals since the departure of last year’s graduating seniors Teo Poplawski and Kayla Mortellaro. The Vandals finished in a tie for ninth with Colorado at 49 over par.
The tournament ran Monday through Tuesday at the Ptarmigan Country Club and consisted of 17 competing schools.
The Vandals struggled out of the gates as they ended the first round of competition on Monday in a tie for 11th place after shooting a combined 304, leaving them 15 strokes out of first place.
The Vandals would improve by one shot in the second round, which was good enough to move them up to a tie for 10thheading into the final round. And even though they shot what was statistically their worst round of the tournament, it was good enough to move up to a tie for ninth.
The Vandals’ score of 49 over par was 30 strokes better than New Mexico State’s last place finish at 79 over par. Texas Tech won the tournament at four under par and was the only team who broke under par, as Baylor was the closest at 23 over par.
The best individual finisher for the Vandals was sophomore Leilanie Kim whose three rounds of 74-71-77 was good enough for a 16th place tie at eight over par. Sophomore Kaitlyn Oster finished the week in a tie for 45th after shooting fourteen over. Rounding out scores for the Vandals were freshmen Cassie McKinley and Kristin Strankman, who tied for 62nd place at 16 over par, and junior Rachel Choi who tied for 67th at 20 over par.
New Mexico’s Manan DeRoey won the tournament at nine under par and outlasted three Texas Tech golfers as Kimberly Kaufman shot five under par, Gabriella Dominguez shot three under par and Beverly Mendoza at even par.
The Vandals have little time to regroup after their first tournament, as they will be in Corvallis, Ore., Sept. 27 for another two-day tournament at the Oregon State Invitational.
Jacob Dyer can be reached at [email protected]