By Larry Larkin (@larrylarkinsjsu) – Spear Reporter
Lucia Lopez Ortega following through after using her driver start a hole. I Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics
San Jose State women’s golf finished in sixth place out of 12 teams at the Pac-12 Preview at Nanea Golf Club in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.
The Spartans finished the three-round tournament taking place Monday-Wednesday, 20-strokes behind winner UCLA.
Lucia Lopez Ortega was the highest placing Spartan, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place at 3-under par. Lopez Ortega finished Monday shooting a 69, 4-under par, the best score of any Spartan this tournament in a round.
Kajsa Arwefjäll finished in a two-way tie for 10th place finishing 1-under par, putting her second among SJSU golfers.
Arwefjäll also led the entire tournament on par-4 holes shooting 5-under par.
Darae Chung finished third among Spartans, placing her in a three-way tie for 25th place overall at 5-over par.
San Jose State finished the Pac-12 Preview with 49 birdies and 155 pars.
Things started to slip for the Spartans on Tuesday despite maintaining sixth place in the tournament’s team standings.
Lopez Ortega recorded five eagles in the second round but also bogeyed on eight of the 18 holes. This includes four triple bogeys and two quadruple bogeys.
Lopez Ortega was in a four-way tie for 10th place after the second round and Arwefjäll was in a four-way tie for 11th place.
However, Chung moved up from a nine-way tie for 20th place to a six-way tie for 16th place after two rounds despite remaining at even par.
“It was an ok day,” SJSU women’s golf head coach Dana Dormann said Tuesday after the second round. “We didn’t fall down the leaderboard.”
SJSU, a Mountain West team, has been invited to compete in larger tournaments like the Pac-12 Preview because it’s been so competitive nationally.
San Jose State’s next event is match play against Stanford scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 29 in San Martin, Calif.