The Colorado State women’s golf team finished their season on a high note Tuesday with a solid team showing and a great individual performance by junior Katrina Prendergast, who took home her first collegiate win at the University of Califonia, Irvine Invitational.
In their best finish since the season opened at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic, the Rams finished the opening day of the tournament in first place on Monday. However, they were unable to maintain the lead, ultimately finishing in third place. Prendergast paced the Rams with a 9-under 207, marking the best finish of her career in relation to place and par.
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Prendergast and sophomore Ellen Secor carried the team in the early going of the two-day, 54-hole tournament. The two finished second and sixth, respectively, after the first day. Prendergast shot a 6-under 66 in the second round and led the team to a tournament-best round of 3-under 285 to pull them into first.
The second day was not as easy-going for the Rams as each of the five golfers recorded or tied their worst score of the tournament. Prendergast steadied the ship, though, with a respectable 1-under 71 and managed to salvage a top-3 finish for CSU.
CSU remained competitive until the very end, finishing just two strokes behind first-place Long Beach State. Despite failing to secure the tournament win, the Rams showed improvement in their final tournament of the season. This marked the first time since the home opener that CSU finished in the top 10 of a tournament. Meanwhile, Prendergast is continuing to gain confidence after setting personal records for the second time this season.
Secor and Prendergast have both displayed spurts of brilliance as CSU’s top golfer since Secor came in as a Freshman last year. If both can play near their best golf throughout the duration of a tournament, the Rams could be dangerous in the spring.
Prendergast and the rest of the women will now continue offseason training before resuming the 2017-18 season on Feb. 12, 2018. Long Beach State will host the Rams and others in the two-day Gold Rush tournament.
Collegian reporter Mack Beaulieu can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on twitter @Macknz_James
