By Andrew Hartley (@andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State golfer Kajsa Arwefjall sharing a laugh with Stanford’s Caroline Sturdza before the 2024 Battle of the Bay begins. I Photo by Andrew Hartley – The Spear
Unfortunately for San Jose State women’s golf, it could not repeat a second defeat of No. 1 Stanford in 2024’s Battle of the Bay. It would lose 5-1 with two of Stanford’s victories not making it past hole 14.
The Battle of the Bay serves for a good temperature check for where the Spartans stand this season. The top ranked team in the nation features five of the top-90 golfers from the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
“Well, it didn’t turn out how we would like it to turn out,” SJSU head coach Dana Dormann said. “But good lessons learned all around.”
The event featured rain and winds over 10 mph making tee offs especially difficult.
Kajsa Arwefjall continued to shine, serving as the only victory San Jose State had Thursday. Only two birdies was enough to solidify her win, shooting a 1-under par of the 17 holes played. Arwefjall is the highest ranking Spartan in WAGR with a placement of 46.
Louisa Carlbom was selected to play with six players available in match play. Unfortunately, her opponent is the highest ranked player via WAGR (24) in Paula Martin Sampedro.
However, this battle was the only one that went all 18 holes. An eagle on hole 15 even gave Carlbom the lead. Unfortunately she would fall just a stroke short by a score of 69-68. This would be great depth to have at the end of the lineup come tournament time.
Both Darae Chung and Rebecca Gyllner had five bogeys or more allowing Rachel Heck and Megha Ganne to steal two easier victories for the Cardinal. These underclassmen will be instrumental in San Jose State reclaiming the Mountain West Championship after falling short a season ago.
The 2023 upset occurred largely due to veteran leadership whereas in 2024 these upsets will need to come via underclassmen doing their part.
The team will head down to Fairfax to take part in the Juli Inkster Invitational from Monday to Tuesday. San Jose State will remain in Calif. for the remainder of the regular season.