TACOMA, Wash. - Santa Clara women's golf briefly held a two-stroke lead to put themselves in position to capture their second consecutive team tournament title, but ultimately the Broncos fell just short at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational, finishing runner-up to Gonzaga with a three-round total of 2-under 862 - the second-lowest team score in program history. Santa Clara shot even par as a team in Tuesday's final round at the par-72 Kalispel Golf and Country Club with sophomore
Chloe Lam leading the charge with a career-low 3-under 69.
All five of Santa Clara's individuals finishing inside the top-20 with
Audrey Brust leading the pack with a tie for fourth finish, tied for the best of her career.
ROUND HIGHLIGHTS:
- SCU's 862 (-2) total is just the third sub-par score in program history. It stands as the second-lowest in the program's history behind the team's phenomenal 18-under 846 showing at the 2023 UVU Timpanogos Collegiate.
- Brust came ever so close to winning her first-career event. The senior from Reno began the day 4-under par and sunk two early birdies on Tuesday to grab a firm lead. However, the rest of round did not go as smoothly as she bogeyed three times and double-bogeyed the par-5 No. 11 hole (which she birdied in the second round), to slip in the standings into a tie for fourth at 1-under 70-70-75--215. The finish is still tied for the best of career alongside the 2023 UVU Timpanaogos Collegiate where she shot 8-under 208 to also tie for fourth.
- Lam improved upon her score in each round of the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational. On Tuesday, she turned in her best of the bunch with a 3-under 69 to climb 19 spots into a tie for ninth at 1-over 217. It is Lam's second career top-10 finish.
- Kelsey Kim shot 2-over 74 in the final round to finish in 14th while Proud Sriwongngam turned in an even-par, her second such round of the event, to finish a stroke behind at 3-over 219 for 15th place.
- Alexa Pineda finish a stroke back from Sriwongngam to tie for 16th at 4-over 220.
- Santa Clara began the day just two strokes back from Gonzaga, and quickly took the lead over the Bulldogs. However, Gonzaga regained the advantage and finished the day 3-under 285 to hold on for the win at 8-under 856.
- Brust's two rounds under par put her at 14 such rounds for her career, moving her into a tie for third-most in program history alongside Kristin Le. Brust also moved up into a tie for fifth in career top-20 finishes (19), tie for sixth in top-10 finishes (8) and fourth in rounds played (102).
- Kim also moved up in career rounds under par, tying for fifth with 12.
SANTA CLARA INDIVIDUALS:
| Place |
Player |
Score |
| T4. |
Brust |
70-70-75--215 (-1) |
| T9. |
Lam |
77-71-69--217 (+1) |
| 14. |
Kim |
69-75-74--218 (+2) |
| 15. |
Sriwongngam |
72-75-72--219 (+3) |
| T16. |
Pineda |
77-70-73--220 (+4) |
TEAM RESULTS:
| Place |
Team |
Score |
| 1. |
Gonzaga |
291-280-285--856 (-8) |
| 2. |
Santa Clara |
288-286-288--862 (-2) |
| 3. |
British Columbia |
290-293-290--873 (+9) |
| 4. |
Seattle |
297-287-294--878 |
| T5. |
Fresno State |
287-297-298--882 |
| T5. |
Northern Colorado |
293-291-298--882 |
| 7. |
Weber State |
296-298-292--886 |
| T8. |
UC Riverside |
292-298-297--887 |
| T8. |
Grand Canyon |
290-297-300--887 |
| 10. |
Utah Valley |
295-299-306--900 |
| 11. |
Idaho |
306-297-309--912 |
| 12. |
North Dakota |
309-304-300--913 |
| T13. |
Eastern Washington |
312-308-304--924 |
| T13. |
Portland State |
304-314-306--924 |
| 15. |
Montana |
326-318-310--954 |
UP NEXT:
The Broncos return to action Oct. 13-15 at the Golf Iconic Classic hosted by New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M.
