By Derrick Ow — Reporter
The San Jose State women’s golf team has been an automatic top-10 machine throughout the season.
The Spartans will need one more effort to continue its hopes of making their second straight NCAA Tournament.
SJSU will try to chase its first Mountain West Championship this week in Rancho Mirage, Calif., The Spartans will be looking to conquer the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. They have not won a conference championship since 2012 when they were in the WAC.
Follow along for the two day coverage.
Monday (36 holes)
San Jose State got an all around team effort as three Spartans sat inside the top 20.
All nine teams played the full 36 holes despite the scorching heat in the Coachella Valley.
Sophomore Kajsa Arwefjall sits in 12th place at 5-over-par for the championship. Her putter heated up in the second round, making five birdies on her round. Despite the quadruple bogey nine she got on the par-5 18th hole. She shot a 3-over 75 in the afternoon.
Freshman Louisa Carlbom used power and precision to shoot a 74 and a 76. The Gothenburg, Sweden native had six birdies on her day but could not avoid bogeys, making 10 of them. She sits at 6-over-par and sits in a tie for 13th.
Junior Antonia Malate only had one birdie in the second round. She did a good job of scrambling to sit at 7-over-par which puts her in a tie for 18th.
Freshman Jordyn Parr shot two rounds of 76 to put herself at 8-over-par. She only made four birdies between both rounds. She sits in a tie for 22nd.
Sophomore Jadan Gonzalez shot rounds of 77 and 76 to put herself in a tie for 25th. She was on the bogey express as she made nine throughout her day. She sits at 9-over-par for the championship.
The Spartans sit in a tie for fourth place at 26-over-par. They trail first place San Diego State by twenty shots as the Aztecs are sitting at 6-over-par.
The Aztecs were all over the individual leaderboard as well. SDSU senior Sara Kjellker leads by one as she sits at 2-under-par. She shot a 3-under 69 in the first round and backed it up with a 1-over 73 in the second round. She has a one shot lead over Fresno State junior Harriet Lynch.
SJSU starts its final round at 7:45 a.m. off of the first tee.
Final Round
The dynamic duo shined on Tuesday.
Junior Antonia Malate and sophomore Kajsa Arwefjall earned top-10 finishes at the Mountain West Championship.
Malate shot a 2-under 70 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course. She was the only player in the 45-player field to shoot under par. She had three birdies on her scorecard to finish at 5-over-par for a tie for seventh.
Arwefjall shot a 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for ninth at 6-over-par. She only had two birdies but made 13 pars for her sixth top-10 finish of the season.
Freshman Louisa Carlbom finished a career best tie for 15th at 11-over-par. She did only have one birdie on the par-5 ninth hole.
Freshman Jordyn Parr shot her third straight round of 76. Her only birdie came on the par-5 ninth whole, making three straight bogeys from holes 15 through 17. She remained in a tie for 22nd at 12-over-par.
Sophomore Jadan Gonzalez did not have her ideal round in the Coachella Valley. She shot a 7-over 79, finishing in a tie for 30th at 16-over-par. She had two double bogeys and five boegys that derailed her round.
The New Mexico Lobos had a superhuman comeback to win their record ninth Mountain West Championship. They started the final round 11 shots back of San Diego State but shot a 2-over 290 to win by four shots over the Aztecs.
It was not all doom and gloom for SDSU. Aztecs senior Sara Kjellker outlasted Lobos sophomore Lauren Lehigh in a three hole sudden death playoff. Kjellker led the field with 41 pars in regulation, just needing par on the par-3 17th hole to get her first collegiate victory of her career. Both players finished the tournament at 1-over-par.
The Spartans will now await their fate to see if they will be heading to their third straight NCAA Regional. SJSU finished inside the top 10 in six of their seven tournaments. They are currently ranked 54th according to Golfstat. 72 teams will be selected to the NCAA Regionals which begin on May 10.
The selection show will be Wednesday on the Golf Channel.
Follow Derrick on Twitter @derrickq42