Aidan Bostic (@bostic_aidan) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State women’s golf finished fall play last month and its performance in the first half of the season is a clear indicator of what to expect when it returns in early February.
On Oct. 30, the Spartans took first place at the 20th Annual Landfall Tradition to finish fall play on a high note. It was the second tournament title this fall for SJSU women’s golf after they started the season with a win at the USF Intercollegiate.
At the Landfall Tradition, SJSU played against six teams ranked within Golf Stat’s top-30 and secured a first-place finish. Junior Louisa Carlbom won her first collegiate tournament after shooting a 10-under 206 for a new tournament record and an individual low tournament score.
Several Spartans shined this season and put the team on their back. SJSU women’s golf is getting better as the season goes on and when one player has an off day, another one steps up.
In the USF Intercollegiate, their first tournament of the season, the Spartans took first place behind a school-record 7-under 64 from senior Kajsa Arwefjäll, who also won first place individually.
Graduate student Antonia Malate tied for second at the Stanford Invitational after shooting a 6-under 207 to carry SJSU to a second-place finish. Malate also golfed well at the Illini Women’s Invitational earlier this season where the Spartans set a school record for the lowest 54-hole tournament score at 28-under 836.
Freshman Rebecca Gyllner received the Mountain West Women’s Golf Freshman of the Month award for October and November.
SJSU did not finish outside of third place in its first four trips of the season. With SJSU women’s golf playing at this level, the sky is the limit.
The Spartans return to the fairway on Friday, Feb. 12 for the Therese Hession Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club. It is safe to say that they will come out with their same intensity that they carried throughout fall.
The Spartans will follow this up with Battle by the Bay versus Stanford, the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational, the Cactus Cup, the Mountain View Collegiate, the Chevron Silverado Showdown and the Mountain West Championships.
The team will close out its season with the much-anticipated NCAA Regionals on Monday, May 18, followed by the NCAA Championships on May 19. Last season, the Spartans fell in the quarterfinals to Oregon in a heartbreaker and they are excited to return and compete once again.
SJSU women’s golf has been outperforming some of the best teams in the country and there will be more first place titles in the spring semester. With their level of play thus far, a national championship may be on the horizon.
Until then, we wait.