UCLA Santa Cruz (Dan Kinvig) – Women’s Golf: Park paces Cascades to third-place finish at UCSC Spring Invite
An outstanding performance from Lucy Park sparked the University of the Fraser Valley women’s golf team to a podium finish at the University of California, Santa Cruz Spring Invite over the weekend.
Park, in her first year of eligibility from Gyeongju, South Korea, followed an opening-round five-over 77 on Saturday with a one-over 73 on Sunday to tie for third individually – matching her best finish of the season. Her strong play helped the Cascades finish third in a field of top NCAA Div. III squads at Pacific Grove Golf Club.
FULL RESULTS – UCSC SPRING INVITE
“Finishing T-3 at an NCAA event is phenomenal,” Cascades head coach Cody Stewart said, lauding Park’s performance. “I’m really excited for her. She’s probably a little bit sour about the way that it ended, as the last couple holes got away from her. But the result is incredible, and it’s a huge confidence boost for her moving forward.”
Park’s round on Sunday was stellar – she played the front nine in two under par, reeling off four birdies in a six-hole stretch. Bogies on the last two holes would deny her an under-par round, but it was good for a share of third individually, tied with Abby Euyang of Pomona-Pitzer at +6 for the tournament. Alison Takimiya of George Fox University ran away with the individual crown at -5, while her teammate Makensie Toole (E) was second.
UFV’s Emery Bardock finished in solo 11th place at +16 for the weekend, Alex Brunner (+18) was T-14th, Coral Hamade (+20) was 17th, and Ella Gifford (+30) was T-31st.
The Cascades’ team score of +58 was good for third place, behind a pair of nationally ranked squads – first-place finisher George Fox (+18) is No. 5 in the latest NCAA Div. III poll, while runner-up Pomona-Pitzer (+43) is No. 8. The host UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, also nationally ranked at No. 25, were fourth at +76.
“We’re pretty happy,” Stewart summarized. “The biggest thing for us was, we showed we had some grind this week. We made some mistakes, but we were able to pull it back together and get back into the golf tournament.
“Results like this show we can hang with anybody. We’re a Canadian program, and we can go down to the States and compete. It’s a confidence boost, and it looks good on our team.”
Up next, the Cascades men’s and women’s golf teams host the UFV Spring Invitational, April 2-3 at Chilliwack Golf Club.
