Mitchell Lobetos
Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s WCC golf championship took place from April 13th to April 15th. The Dons headed down to Ventura, CA to play at Saticoy Golf Club to compete for the conference title.
The men’s team went in looking for their 12th conference championship and at the end of day one they put themselves in position to make it happen by finishing day one on top. USF was led by senior Jobim Carlos on day one who hit a 74 (+2) for the day, the only player to break par was Conor Campbell of Loyola Marymount. Junior Sebastian Crookall-Nixon birdied his last two of three holes to shoot a 75 (+3) on the day and finish day one tied for fifth. Even with six bogeys sophomore Max Alcorn found himself five shots over par with a score of 76 (+4) for the day. On day two, even though the Dons shaved their previous days score by five shots to 298, they dropped from first to a tie for second. Jobim Carlos sat at second place with a 146 (+2), two strokes away from par and leader Byron Meth; Meth is also the defending champion. Carlos unfortunately bogeyed twice in his final three holes to score a 72 for the day. Freshman Jalen Griffin leap-frogged to a 10th place tie after shooting a 73(+1). Senior Emil Liljeroth, who was out of action day one due to a wrist injury, pounded out an 83 for day two. Jobim finished the tournament tied for fourth after shooting 81(+9) on the last day and ringing up a final score of 227 (+11). Liljeroth sat out once again for day three but Crookall-Nixon eased the burden by shooting the second best score of the day, 75(+3), to earn himself part of fourth place. The men’s team finished the tournament fourth overall.
Strong opening days on a tough course by junior Emelie, Lundstrom, sophomore Ayaka Suzuki, and junior Clare Sorenson put the women’s team in third place. The Dons score of 318 (+30) was just seven strokes away from the leader. No individual broke par in the women’s championship for day one but Lundstrom finished third best with a score of 77(+5). Suzuki finished the day tied for fifth and Sorenson, tied for ninth. Day two the team finished 10 strokes better than the previous day to finish off with a score of 308. USF remained in third place with an overall 626 (+50). Lundstrom finished two strokes better than the previous day and ended day two with two birdies to earn a 152 (+8). After posting an 84 on day one, sophomore Alison Lillie finished six shots better on day two to finish with an overall 162 (+18). Freshman Vanessa Ha also shaved six strokes from her previous days score to end day two with a 166 (+22). Suzuki and Sorenson also improved from their day one scores. On day three Suzuki shot a second straight 77(+5) and finished sixth overall with a score of 232 (+16). After shooting a solid 79 (+7) on the final day, Ha vaulted into 16th place with a score of 245 (+19). Sorenson also took a share of 16th after shooting 16-over during her final round. Lundstrom was one stroke back of the leader going into day three but ended up finishing in third after a 79(+7) gave her an overall of 231 (+15). The Dons finished the tournament in second-place overall for shooting 845 (+81), a solid finish for the WCC Championships.
The men’s and women’s golf teams are now headed into the offseason but will be ready to get back into action and make a title push next spring.
Photo Credits: Dons Athletics
