SANTA CRUZ, Cali - The UCSC women's golf team hosted the UC Santa Cruz Invite this weekend. Pacific Grove Golf Links will hosted the two-day, 36-hole event in Pacific Grove, CA.
UCSC returned to competition after last competing at the Lady Mustang Intercollegiate in October. This was one of two tournaments before the Slugs play at the American Southwest Conference Championships (ASC) in mid April followed by the NCAA Tournament.
"Our team was excited to get back on the course, " head coach Paulette Pera said. "Many of the teams have had no head to head competition against each other. Our tournament could really shuffle the NCAA DIII rankings this spring."
The field includeded Biola, Claremont Mudd Scripps, Corban, George Fox, Menlo, Texas Lutheran, UC Santa Cruz, Whittier, and Whitworth. 2015 UC Santa Cruz Invite Champion George Fox entered the tournament as the #3 team in the country and were heavy favorites to win again this year. However, #22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and #24 Whittier were serious competition. Indivudally, 5 of the top ranked 50 and 8 of the top100 ranked players in the NCAA as well as 1 top 40 player from in the NAIA competed.
Day 1 was played under breezy conditions. Jenna Jensen (Corban) posted the low round of the day with a 74. She led by 3 over Shelby Hunt (Whittier) and Madison Perry (George Fox). Slugs' Portia Kenney was tied for 8th, 9 shots of the lead. Other Slugs in the hunt included Ravipa Losakul (88) and Angela McElroy (89). George Fox posted a team score of 316, leading Whittier by 4.
George Fox made some great adjustments for Day 2, posting a team score of 299 with 4 of their top 5 shooting in the 70s. They won the 2016 UC Santa Cruz Invite by 24 strokes over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with a 36-hole total score of 615 (+39). UCSC finished 7th with a team score of 703.
Individually, Hailey Ostrom (George Fox) posted the low of the day with 72, overcoming Jensen's 6 shot lead and giving her the championship by 1 stroke over her teammate Sydney Maluendar. Ostrom posted a +8 36-hole total of 152. UCSC's Kenny finished +27 (27th), Losakul +29 (30th), and McElroy +31(33rd).
TEAM RESULTS
| Finish | Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 1 | George Fox | 316* | 299* | 615 (+39) |
| 2 | Claremont-Mudd | 324 | 323 | 647 (+71) |
| 3 | Whittier | 320 | 329 | 649 (+73) |
| 4 | Corban | 327 | 333 | 660 (+84) |
| 5 | Whitworth | 330 | 331 | 661 (+85) |
| 6 | Biola | 337 | 344 | 681 (+105) |
| 7 | UC Santa Cruz | 353 | 350 | 703 (+127) |
| 8 | Texas Lutheran | 357 | 357 | 714 (+138) |
| 9 | Menlo | 374 | 383 | 757 (+181) |
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
| Finish | Name | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 1 | Hailey Ostrom | George Fox | 80 | 72* | 152 (+8) |
| 2 | Sydney Maluenda | George Fox | 78 | 75 | 153 (+9) |
| 3 | Kristin Elich | George Fox | 81 | 73 | 154 (+10) |
| T 4 | Jenna Jensen | Corban | 74* | 81 | 155 (+11) |
| Michal Schuster | Whitworth | 78 | 77 | ||
| 6 | Shelby Hunt | Whittier | 77 | 79 | 156 (+12) |
| T 7 | Madison Perry | George Fox | 77 | 81 | 158 (+14) |
| Maya Bhat | CMS | 76 | 82 | ||
| 9 | Iris Kawada | George Fox | 81 | 79 | 160 (+16) |
| T 10 | Kelly Ransom | CMS | 82 | 80 | 162 (+18) |
| Mary Bryan Owen | CMS | 83 | 79 | ||
| 27 | Portia Kenney | UCSC | 83 | 88 | 171 (+27) |
| T 30 | Ravipa Losakul | UCSC | 88 | 85 | 173 (+29) |
| 33 | Angela McElroy | UCSC | 88 | 87 | 175 (+31) |
UCSC will return to action April 4-5 for the ASC Conference Championships at Bay Oaks Country Club in Houston, TX.