After a disappointing start, the Vandal women’s golf team rebounded on the second day to climb into11th place at the Las Vegas Collegiate Shootout on Tuesday.
The Vandals came into the tournament fresh off a third place finish at the Price’s Give ‘Em Five Intercollegiate, in which sophomore Kaitlyn Oster took second overall, but Idaho wasn’t able to finish as high this time due to a poor first round.
Indiana won the tournament with a team score of 894, just three strokes ahead of Central Florida. Host UNLV finished one stroke behind Central Florida in third. Indiana’s Elizabeth Tong tied with Mississippi State’s Ally McDonald for the medalist honors.
The Vandals finished the first day of competition in 14th place. Oster had the low round for Idaho in the first at a five-over 77.
Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said she wasn’t happy with the way her team performed to start the tournament.
“We didn’t finish our round very well,” Johnson said. “We started well but didn’t finish.”
Idaho shot a 316 in the first round and followed it up with a 312 in the second. The Vandals caught fire in the third and final round, shooting a 295, which bumped them from 14th to 11th place.
Johnson said she was more than happy with the way her team rebounded to finish the event.
“We finished on a good note, we moved up a lot,” Johnson said.
The Vandals shot the fourth best round in their final round. Oster shot a two under 70, which was aided by an eagle-3 on a par-5 to propel her into 14th place individually. It was the second lowest round of the tournament.
Idaho’s Leilanie Kim tied for 42nd while Kristin Strankman finished in 59th. Rachel Choi rounded out Idaho’s top four, finishing in 67th.
One of the issues the players faced throughout the tournament was strong wind. Gusts hit up to 35 miles-per-hour throughout the tournament. Johnson said it definitely affected her team’s play.
“We finally played well,” Johnson said. “It was the wind. This golf course is scoreable without it.”
The tournament was Idaho’s last of the fall. The next time the Vandals will be back in action will be Feb. 25 at the Anteater Invitational in Irvine, Calif.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]