Towner Places 17th, Four Strokes Out of Tie for 11th, at CLU Regals Invite

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Lexi Towner (Jr., Chico, CA/Chico HS) of Willamettte University finished in 17th place with a 36-hole score of 174, as the CLU Regals Invitational in women's golf ended on Tuesday, March 12 at Sunset Hills Country Club. Towner was just four strokes out of a joining a four-way tie for 11th place.

Towner shot an 84 in the first round of the tournament on Monday, and followed up with a 90 in the second round. Kristen Barclay (Jr./So., Kenmore, WA/Cedar Park Christian School) from Willamette shot 188, while Katerin Vasquez (So., Indio, CA/Coachella Valley HS) shot 238. Barclay carded a 93 in the first round and a 95 in the second round. Vasquez shot 119 each day.

"A huge thank you to CLU for hosting us this week at Sunset Hills Country Club," Willamette Assistant Coach Ryan Melnychuk said. "The greens were some of the best we've seen this year, and it provided us with a great test before a home tournament (Willamette Valley Cup) this weekend."

Annie Hay from University of Redlands won the individual championship with a score of 156. She tied for the low round of the tournament with a 77 on Monday, and then shot 79 on Tuesday. Kendall Nicholson, also from Redlands, shot 159. She matched Hay on the first day with a 77 to tie for the lead after 18 holes. Nicholson carded an 82 in the second round.

A tie for third place went to Shiyang Fan of Whitman College and Mariah Moon from Redlands at 152. Fan shot an 85 in the first round, before equalling the low round of the event with a 77 in the second round. Moon shot 80 and 82.

Three golfers tied for fifth. They were Lauren Fesler and Allison Gaskill from California Lutheran University, along with Kacey Godwin from Whitman. All three carded 166 for the tournament. Fesler and Gaskill both shot 84-82. Godwin earned an 83 in each round. The tournament included 51 golfers, with 48 competing in both rounds.

Redlands won the team title with a score of 647. The Bulldogs registered the two lowest rounds of the competition with a score of 321 in the first round and 326 in the second round. Whitman placed second at 670 (337-333) and Occidental College (Calif.) was third at 684 (342-342).

California Lutheran took fourth place at 687 (344-343), Concordia University (Texas) was fifth at 698 (354-344), Marymount California University was sixth at 758 (388-370), Hope International University (Calif.) placed seventh at 760 (402-358). University of La Verne and Willamette did not enter complete teams.

The Bearcats will host the Willamette Valley Cup this weekend at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Oregon. The first round is scheduled for Saturday, March 16 and the second round is set for Sunday, March 17.