Senior golfer Kayla Mortellaro kept things rolling this week, tying for second at the Washington State University Cougar Cup in Pullman Tuesday, and helped propel her team to third place overall.
The Vandals were coming off a solid performance at last week’s Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Colorado, and they picked up where they left off.
Idaho started the tournament with a team score of 321, but came back with a 294 in round two, which was the second lowest team round of the tournament. Idaho finished it off with a solid third round of 295 to bring their total to 910 for a two stroke improvement. Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said she was thrilled with the way her team finished the tournament.
“We played really well today,” Johnson said. “I felt our second round yesterday and today’s round are great indicators of how well this team is capable of playing. We putted a lot better. We gave ourselves more birdie opportunities, and we converted them.”
The Vandals finished just eight strokes behind Stanford’s second place total of 902. The University of Washington won the tournament with 890.
Her most recent tournament adds another to Mortellaro’s list of high finishes. Mortellaro has finished second and third in the team’s two tournaments so far this season.
Mortellaro started off the tournament a little shaky, shooting eight over in the first round, but came back in the second round with a 72. Mortellaro finished the tournament in style shooting the second lowest score in the tournament with a 69. She finished just one stroke behind Stanford’s Sally Watson, who won the tournament with a score of 220 in the 54-hole tournament.
Mortellaro was not the only Vandal to finish in a high position as sophomore Rachel Choi finished eighth, her first time in the top-ten. Senior Teo Polawski rounded out the Vandals’ top scorers, finishing in twentieth. Johnson said she likes that every player is boosting the team’s standings.
“We had contributions from everyone on the team,” Johnson said. “That is very encouraging. We have a lot of depth this year.”
The Vandals will be back in action Oct. 3 through 5 when they travel to Sammamish, Wash., to play in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.