Saturday, February 23
Phoenix, AZ
UC Riverside
at
Grand Canyon Invitational
Photo by: Mary Ritchie
Women's Golf Excited for Rest of Season After GCU Invitational
2/24/2019 9:35:00 PM | Women's Golf
PHOENIX—Don't let the outcome fool you. The UC Riverside Women's Golf team may have finished in eighth place at the Grand Canyon Invitational on Sunday, but head coach Mary Ritchie believes this is the start of what could be an exciting rest of the season.
"I can see the progress," Ritchie said. "We had some moments of brilliance and positive change."
The GCU Golf Course, formally known as the Maryvale Golf Course, is a 6,059-yard, Par 72 layout. The Highlanders finished with a team score of 906 (+42).
It was a crowded field this year, with 20 different teams competing. Coming from far and wide, some of the schools included: North Dakota State, Eastern Washington University and the University of Toledo.
UCR played against a ton of familiar teams, including Big West foes CSUN and Hawaii. Montana State, CSU Bakersfield and Cal Baptist also played in the Battle at the Rock, the tournament UCR hosted two weeks ago.
Play was suspended due to darkness on Saturday, so the teams finished a handful of holes in the second round on Sunday before immediately starting the final round of play.
"We've learned how to play in this weather quite well," Ritchie said. "We advanced the ball into safe spots this weekend even with the golf course a little soggy and navigated our way around it."
After shooting a 78 (+6) in the opening round and then a 76 (+4) in the second round, Ping Huang surged in the final round, shooting a 69 (-3) to finish tied for 14th place.
"Ping played very smart today. She's really settling into her spot," Ritchie said. "This was a huge performance from her and something that I think will be a big confidence booster."
The team's next tournament will begin on March 4 at the Gunrock Invitational hosted by UC Davis.
"I feel like the team has turned a corner on a few things," Ritchie said. "We were just plugging along before, but now things are clicking, especially at the end of the tournament."
To see all of the team's results, click here.
"I can see the progress," Ritchie said. "We had some moments of brilliance and positive change."
The GCU Golf Course, formally known as the Maryvale Golf Course, is a 6,059-yard, Par 72 layout. The Highlanders finished with a team score of 906 (+42).
It was a crowded field this year, with 20 different teams competing. Coming from far and wide, some of the schools included: North Dakota State, Eastern Washington University and the University of Toledo.
UCR played against a ton of familiar teams, including Big West foes CSUN and Hawaii. Montana State, CSU Bakersfield and Cal Baptist also played in the Battle at the Rock, the tournament UCR hosted two weeks ago.
Play was suspended due to darkness on Saturday, so the teams finished a handful of holes in the second round on Sunday before immediately starting the final round of play.
"We've learned how to play in this weather quite well," Ritchie said. "We advanced the ball into safe spots this weekend even with the golf course a little soggy and navigated our way around it."
After shooting a 78 (+6) in the opening round and then a 76 (+4) in the second round, Ping Huang surged in the final round, shooting a 69 (-3) to finish tied for 14th place.
"Ping played very smart today. She's really settling into her spot," Ritchie said. "This was a huge performance from her and something that I think will be a big confidence booster."
The team's next tournament will begin on March 4 at the Gunrock Invitational hosted by UC Davis.
"I feel like the team has turned a corner on a few things," Ritchie said. "We were just plugging along before, but now things are clicking, especially at the end of the tournament."
To see all of the team's results, click here.
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