Katrina Prendergast has challenged for an individual college victory before in her career at Colorado State, but on Tuesday, the junior closed the deal.
Prendergast scored her first college win, prevailing by three strokes out of a 71-player field at the UC Irvine Invitational in Santa Ana, Calif.
The golfer from Sparks, Nev., posted rounds of 70-66-71 for a 9-under-par 207 total. She made five birdies in the final round, and 17 for the 54 holes.
Prendergast’s previous best individual showings in college were seconds in the 2016 Mountain West Conference Championship and the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in September.
The last two years, Prendergast has qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s also twice paired up in Colorado with CSU teammate Ellen Secor to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, where they advanced to the round of 16 earlier this year.
But while Prendergast (pictured in a CSU photo) claimed the individual title on Tuesday, CSU came up short in its bid for a team championship. The Rams led by six going into the final round, but after a 15-over-par 303 in the final round they ended up in third place, three strokes behind champion Long Beach State and one back of runner-up Pepperdine.
UC Irvine Invitational
Oct. 30-31, 2017 (final) at Santa Ana, Calif.
3. (out of 11 teams) Colorado State 294-285-303–882
1. Katrina Prendergast 70-66-71–207
17. Ellen Secor 72-72-79–223
25. Haley Greb 76-74-76–226
29. Brooke Nolte 76-73-78–227
46. Jessica Sloot 78-76-78–232
29. Fiona Hebbel (competing only as individual) 74-72-81–227
