Team results
Individual results
The Long Beach State women’s golf team finished up the final round of the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational on Tuesday, placing 9th out of 16 teams at the Almaden Golf and Country Club in San Jose.
The 49ers shot a 58-over par as a team during the three-day event at the par 72 6,223-yard course.
“We had a game plan in our practice round, we wanted to play very aggressive, but it didn’t work out in our favor,” 49ers head coach Joey Cerulle said.
The Beach’s top individual performance came from sophomore Noelle Zavaleta, who posted a 13-over par (74-78-77) for three rounds to tie for 21st place. Junior Lindsey McAtee finished tied for 24th, one stroke behind Zavaleta, after sinking nine birdies in three rounds to card a 14-over par performance.
Sophomore Monica Villarreal finished right behind at 15-over par, good for a tie for 26th, while junior Reina Rogers shot a 17-over, to tie for 36th.
Freshman Simone Hoey placed in a tie for 38th, carding an overall 18-over par.
“Everybody’s goal is to finish in the top 25, and we had two players accomplish this goal, and another was right outside finishing 26th, which is a great accomplishment,” Cerulle said.
The tournament was extremely close with No. 14-ranked California finishing first in the team standings after posting an 899 (+35). Cal held off No. 26 UC Davis by two strokes and tournament host No. 36 San Jose State by four.
SJSU’s Christina Corpus won the individual title with a tournament score of one-over par (72-71-74).
“We responded well the first round, second round got tough with the weather,” Cerulle said. “We let up a little in the second, but left enough for striking distance. Today, the conditions were tough with rain and cold weather.
“We were bunched up with many ranked teams so that’s a bright spot. Putting aside Mother Nature, we felt very comfortable.”
LBSU will try and defend its title from last year at the Anteater Invitational hosted by UC Irvine. The tournament will run March 29-30 at Dove Canyon Country Club in Dove Canyon, Calif.
Cerulle said, “We are playing for a regional at-large bid, every round is gonna be played like it’s our last.”