Riverside–The UC Riverside Women's Golf Team entered the final round of the Big West Championship 12 shots back of front-running Cal Poly, and nearly overtook the Mustangs for the second year in a row. (
Final results)
Jakeishya Le matched the low-round of the tournament with a final round 68 that moved the Highlanders up from third to within one stroke of forcing a playoff with the eventual 2017 Champion Cal Poly.
UC Riverside fell to as low as fifth on the team leaderboard, and trailed by as many 19 shots in the first nine holes.
The Highlanders played the front nine at +2 as a team, however Cal Poly came out of the gates with a -6 showing on the first four holes that increased their double-digit lead.
UCR cut the deficit to six after being charged up by news that Le had holed out from the fairway on the par 5 14th from the fairway for eagle. Her approach from bounced once before landing in cup out of the air.
UC Riverside had been plagued in the first two rounds by the finishing three holes of their home course. In today's final round the team played 16-18 at -3, 19 strokes better than the first two days of the event.
Hannah Facchini carded a one-over par 73, her best round of the championship, while Julia Sander and Paris Griffith posted matching 74s to help the team equal the team round of the event–289 posted by Cal Poly on day one.
The final group of Le and Cal Poly's Jamie Bins approached the par 5 18th green with the Mustangs leading by two, and Bins' third shot in the rough.
Le hit her third to inside 20 feet, and had a putt for birdie. Bins, who played first, chipped her fourth shot to two feet.
Le then calmly stepped to her ball, and dropped the birdie putt in the center of the cup electrifying the blue and gold supporters in the gallery.
Bins, knowing what was at stake, took little time over her ball before sinking the two-footer to deliver Cal Poly's first conference title by a single stroke.
Le was also on the verge of forcing an individual playoff with Cal State Fullerton's Martina Edberg at -6, but her 68 landed her runner-up at -5. Her second place finish is the highest in the history of the program in the Big West Championship.
The Big West All-Conference Team was announced during the awards banquet. UCR's Hannah Facchini and Jakeishya Le were both named to the First-Team, while senior Haley Wian was selected Honorable Mention.
The focus will now shift Thursday's NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show that will announce the NCAA Regional destinations of conference champions as well as at-large teams and individuals. The Golf Channel reveals the selections at 8 am PT, and will also stream the show live on golfchannel.com.
| Pos |
2017 Big West Championship |
1st Rd |
2nd Rd |
3rd Rd |
Total |
| 2 |
UC - Riverside |
296 |
303 |
289 |
888 |
| 2 |
Jakeishya Le |
70 |
73 |
68 |
211 |
| T16 |
Hannah Facchini |
74 |
79 |
73 |
226 |
| T19 |
Paris Griffith |
80 |
73 |
74 |
227 |
| T22 |
Julia Sander |
73 |
82 |
74 |
229 |
| T34 |
Haley Wian |
79 |
78 |
78 |
235 |
