The Idaho women’s golf team finished in the middle of the pack Tuesday at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational in Lakewood, Washington. The Vandals tied for sixth with Cal Poly after shooting a 64-over-par 928. Idaho finished one stroke behind fifth-place Seattle.
“Well, the greens were rolling 12.5 or 13 on the Stimpmeter, which is extremely fast,” Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said. “We haven’t putted that fast of green this year and we quite honestly don’t have the ability to practice for that here at U of I or WSU, so we didn’t adjust.”
Idaho plays its last invitational of the fall season at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown Oct. 26 in Las Vegas.
Johnson said Las Vegas is a desert course and the New Mexico State Aggie Invitational, which Idaho won a little over a week ago in Las Cruces, New Mexico, proved Idaho can play better on a desert course than a Northwest course. So, she said her and her team are confident they can play better.
Washington won the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational by 34 strokes over second-place and Pac-12 rival Washington State. The Huskies shot 1-under-par 863 and the Cougars shot 33-over-par 897.
All six Washington golfers finished in the top seven. Washington’s Ying Luo finished tied for seventh, the worst finish for the Huskies.
Grand Canyon finished third after firing a 39-over-par 903 and Montana took fourth after a 55-over-par 919 performance.
Grand Canyon’s Charlotte Jaengkit and Washington’s Jing Yan tied for first after three rounds of play. Each shot 1-under-par 215 scores. Jing Yan won the subsequent playoff on the first hole with a par on the 10th hole.
Senior Leilanie Kim shot the best three-round score for the Vandals, posting a 12-over-par 228 to tie for 17th.
“Leilanie’s game translates well to any style of golf course,” Johnson said. “She’s a great ball striker. She plays within herself.”
Johnson said Kim did struggle on a couple aspects of her game, but she said Kim is the most familiar on the team with this style of golf course because it’s the same type she grew up with in Canada. Kim is from Surrey, British Columbia, about a three-hour drive north of Lakewood.
Idaho sophomore Amy Hasenoehrl tied for 25th, shooting a 16-over-par 232, junior Kristin Strankman posted a 19-over-par 235 to tie for 29th and freshman Kendall Gray tied for 32nd, shooting a 20-over-par 236. Seniors Kaitlyn Oster and Mary Sweeney tied for 43rd after carding 23-over-par 239 scores. Sweeney competed as an individual.
Juniors Cassie McKinley and Kassidy Long-Goheen also competed as individuals for the Vandals.
“This golf course just doesn’t fit our style of play and we just chalked it up to that,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the course had been redesigned since the last time she visited it.
“I wasn’t that familiar with the changes and we didn’t practice the appropriate things leading up to the tournament,” Johnson said.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]