Aidan Bostic (@bostic_aidan) – Spear Reporter
The San Jose State women’s golf team kicked off their season at the Olympic Club Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, where they competed against nine other teams.
The Spartans made an elite-level comeback, finishing in first place after sitting in fourth place after day one.
In the first round, the Spartans shot the lowest round of the day with a score of 277 behind senior Kajsa Arwefjäll, who shot a round-best, 5-under 66. Arwefjäll started Monday with eight birdies, including six over her final 10 holes.
Sophomore Lucia Lopez Ortega also contributed significantly in the first round, shooting a two-under 69.
In the second round, SJSU fell into fourth place after scoring a 297. Despite the strong start, SJSU scored a combined 574 through the first two rounds and they would fall behind UCLA, Pepperdine, and UC Berkeley.
After day one, Arwefjäll led the tournament in birdies made with 11 and shot a 4-under 138 tying for third place. Ortega finished Monday tied for 15th at 2-over 144 and made eight birdies between the first two rounds.
Freshman Rebecca Gyllner made her Spartan debut and tied for 25th after shooting a 5-over 147 on the first day.
On Tuesday, SJSU geared up for round three and a fight back to the top of the leaderboards.
And boy did they fight.
Arwefjäll climbed to first place in individual scoring after shooting a school-record 7-under 64 in the third round, finishing at 11-under 202. Arwefjäll had the round-best score in the first and third rounds of the invitational and proceeded to win her first collegiate title.
Ortega shot a 1-under 70 in the third round and tied for 11th place with a score of 214. Graduate student Antonia Malate jumped from 30th place to 14th place after scoring a 3-under 68 in the third round.
As a team, SJSU scored a school record 274 to propel itself into first place. The next best score was 288 from UCLA. Great scores from different Spartans lifted them to their first-place victory.
Arwefjäll is somebody to look out for over the course of the season as she had an impressive showing in San Francisco over the past two days. She put the team on her back from the jump.
The Spartans will attend the Illini Women’s Invitational in Medinah, Ill. on Monday, Oct. 10.