For the first time this season, the Vandals have emerged from a tournament as the top dog. Hosted by Eastern Washington, the Tri-State Invitational featured EWU, UI, Montana, Idaho State and some independent golfers from Gonzaga.
As has been the case for most of this season, the Vandals solidified their position as a top team in the Big Sky. After playing in bigger tournaments to start the year, the Vandals shined when given the opportunity to display their talents against fellow Big Sky competitors. struggling to win tournaments to start the
The team finished at 11-over, comfortably defeating the second-place finishers, EWU, headlined by sophomore Emma Kang, who tied for first place with Gonzaga’s Taylor Mularski but was given the first-place medal in a scorecard playoff.
The Vandals finished the first round at 2-over, and for the second time this season, Kang, consistently one of the team’s top performers, finished the first round under par. She finished the invitational at 1-over, which was enough to earn Kang her first collegiate tournament victory.
Due to strong showings in the first round, senior Jenna Bruggeman and sophomore Zoe Newell tied for fifth place at 4-over. Junior Kaylin Johnson and sophomore Emma Heyman finished at 7-over and 8-over, respectively.
The Vandals competed in the Portland State Invitational on October 15 and tied with Southern Utah for fifth place out of 10 teams.
Idaho did not see as much success in comparison to Big Sky opponents in this tournament.
Johnson cracked the top 10, finishing at 9-over and tying with two others for ninth place. Heyman and Newell finished at 12-over and 15-over, respectively.
Kang was unable to compete in the tournament coming off her championship performance due to an illness.
The team will not play again until February. Now that the fall stint of the schedule has wrapped up, the team has a few months to recuperate, but some Vandal golfers appear to be just getting started in terms of having a successful season.
Kang has been the top performer for the Vandals this year, finishing as the team-leading score in three of the four tournaments she has participated in.
Heyman and Johnson have performed similarly and had success, for the most part. What stands out about this roster is the talented and deep lineup of Kang, Heyman, Bruggeman, Johnson and Newell.
Liam Bradford can be reached at [email protected]