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
After five runner-up performances, Clark (pictured) claimed his first college title Tuesday at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, the first tournament of the spring portion of the schedule.
Clark, the 2010 CGA Amateur champion who is currently ranked No. 1 in men’s college golf by Golfstat, prevailed by one shot at Sewailo Golf Club as his University of Oregon squad easily earned the team title.
The fifth-year senior, who calls Highlands Ranch home, shot rounds of 70-71-68 for a 4-under-par 209 total. Clark, a former Big 12 Player of the Year who transferred from Oklahoma State for his final season of college golf, started out his final round with three straight birdies before reeling off 15 consecutive pars to close out his day.
In four tournaments this season for Oregon, Clark has finished second, third, sixth and first.
Clark was a two-time 4A Colorado high school individual champion while at Valor Christian.
Meanwhile, the University of Denver finished 11th in the 18-team competition, posting an 898 total and ending up 41 strokes behind Oregon.
Chris Korte led DU individually by placing 12th at 218.
Arizona Intercollegiate
Jan. 23-24, 2017 (final) in Tucson, Ariz.
11. Denver 304-299-295–898
12. Chris Korte 72-76-70–218
20. Petter Mikalsen 75-75-71–221
37. Isaac Petersilie 79-71-76–226
72. Jake Kelley 78-79-80–237
72. Roy Kang 82-77-78–237
Also
1. Coloradan Wyndham Clark, Oregon 70-71-68–209
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The Coloradan, a sophomore at Wake Forest, scored her first individual college victory Sunday at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. And Kupcho, known for her huge win margins in Colorado tournaments, didn’t just eke out a victory; she prevailed by six strokes.
The 19-year-old shot rounds of 67-68-66 for a 15-under-par 201 total, leaving her a half-dozen shots ahead of runner-up Lauren Stephenson of Alabama. Kupcho carded eight birdies in the final round and set the program record for 54-hole scoring — by five strokes.
In the process, Kupcho’s Wake Forest squad earned the team title, beating Alabama, the top-ranked team in women’s golf, by five. It was the Demon Deacons’ first team title in Kupcho’s two seasons at Wake Forest and the program’s first individual championship since Cheyenne Woods won the ACC title in 2011.
“It feels great to get that first collegiate win,” Kupcho told WakeForestSports.com. “I’ve been working really hard and it’s great to see that pay off. I was hitting the ball really well. Coming into the tournament, I wasn’t too confident in my putting, but I came out and started making putts on Friday and my confidence grew from there. I felt like I was making everything.”
Kupcho, who finished sixth at last season’s women’s NCAA Finals, has now notched 10 top-10 individual finishes as a college player, including a win and two seconds.
Kupcho won both the CWGA Match Play and the CWGA Stroke Play in 2016, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open. (Kupcho is pictured above with her Wake Forest coaches.)
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