Riverside, Calif. – Senior
Ariel Lee and the CSU Bakersfield women's golf team decided spring is here and let's play some golf. And to say the `Runners put on a show at the Battle at the Rock is an absolute understatement. The `Runners would finish sixth in the 14 team tournament, the same tournament that CSUB finished 15
th out of 15 teams just a year ago.
CSUB re-wrote the record book for the second consecutive round as a team, smashed the 54-hole tournament score for a team and Lee set the school record for an individual in a 54-hole tournament by shooting 221 (+5), breaking teammate
Tori Peers old record of 222 (+6).
Macey Mills shot 222 (+6), which would have tied the old mark and obviously, is a new personal best for the sophomore.
This cannot be stressed enough, this was an absolutely historic two days for CSUB's Director of Golf
Meghan Thomason team, as well as the individuals involved. The `Runners would not just break the old 54-hole tournament record for CSUB, they would crush it. Last season at the Bobcat Desert, the `Runners would shoot 928 (+64). Lee, Mills,
Misha Vega, Peers and
Julia Stewart would shoot 892 (+28) to break the old record by 36 shots. 36! The `Runners would also break the single round record for scoring that had been held for about 19 hours. CSUB shot a 296 yesterday in the afternoon round to break the previous record of 299 by three strokes. And just for fun, the girls went out this morning and decided to top themselves and shoot a 294.
`Runners Thomason was so excited to talk about her team. "This feels really good. I think our play over the course of the tournament really validates what we have been doing in practice and the weight room. All nine kids on this team work their butts off. I had faith that it would click in competition soon and I'm really happy we played this well so early in the spring. We definitely need to re-evaluate our goals and keep pushing. The sky is the limit right now." Thomason would add, "each of our individual performances today were just awesome. It's really difficult to follow two great rounds up with a third. That was my worry last night. The girls are happy about the individual records that were tied and broken but they're way more excited about our team success. As a coach, you really can't ask for much more than that from your players. They enjoyed the process today. It was so much fun to watch."
Lee would shoot rounds of 74 (+2), 73 (+1) and a final round 74 (+2) to complete her historic tournament and would finish in a tie for 14
th.
Mills would also have her best 54-hole tournament as a collegiate by shooting 77 (+5), 73 (+1) and a final round 72 (E). The sophomore's previous best single round was 74 (+2), so Mills sets her personal best single round score on back to back rounds and now is tied with Lee for second best single round score in Roadrunner history. And Mills made it look easy. After opening the round +2 after five holes, the Bakersfield native would shoot -2 the final 13 holes. Mills finished 19
th in the tournament this week.
Vega would have her best two days as a collegiate as well. The Sophomore would shoot 75 (+3), 75 (+3) and a final round 74 (+2) to now have the fourth best 54-hole tournament score in `Runners history with a 224 (+8). Vega would finish in a tie for 25
th in the tournament this week.
Senior
Tori Peers, who has her name all over CSUB's record books, would shoot 230 (+14), which would have been the fifth best 54-hole tournament score by an individual in `Runners history going into the tournament.
After a rough Day 1,
Julia Stewart would bounce back in a big way in the final round and the senior would shoot a 74 (+2) to help the `Runners team complete their re-writing of the school's record book.
The `Runners would finish three strokes better than Western Athletic Conference rival Grand Canyon to complete their sixth place finish.
The `Runners will be back in action Feb. 24-25 at the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix, AZ.
