COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – The Seattle Pacific University women's golf team competed at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, where the Falcons played to a sixth-place finish in their first season of competition.
"The first 90 minutes of the round played extremely difficult with the low temperature, rain, and heavy winds," head coach Tyler Copp said. "That contributed to the higher scores for everyone in the field. Once the rain stopped, we faced heavy winds until the closing stretch."
Garcia finished the opening round of the GNAC Championships with an 80. Her score is tied for 11th on the individual leaderboard. Garcia shined on par 3's on the front nine, collecting birdies on holes three and six. She closed out her round with a birdie on 18.
Anika Schau put together a strong first nine to start her tournament. She birdied the par 3 fifth hole and grabbed another on the eighth hole. Schau finished the opening round with an 86.
"Our start of the round wasn't anything special but everyone hitting the green in regulation on 5 helped settle us in," Copp said. "Zoe and Anika led the way on the front 9 with steady golf."
Brigitte Fenton had the second-best score for the Falcons in round one. She was incredibly consistent, with 10 pars in the round. She scored par on seven of the final nine holes on the course. Fenton finished with an 83 in round one.
Like Fenton, Natalie Eklund found a rhythm on the back nine. She ended her round emphatically, picking up birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. She shot even par on the back nine on her way to a first round 82.
"Holes 7-10 played extremely difficult, but we found some scoring opportunities from 13-18," Copp said. "Brigitte put together seven pars on the back nine, and Natalie's even par back nine, including birdies on 17 & 18, were major highlights today."
Round two of the GNAC Championships were slightly delayed due to early morning frost. Eklund had a fantastic round when play evening started. She had back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes. She scored a 41 on the front nine. Eklund added birdies on the 11th and 15th holes to score a 28 on the back nine. She scored 79 in round two to go along with an 82 in round one, for a 161 total for the tournament. Eklund recorded the best score of the GNAC Championships for the Falcons.
"After a difficult start Natalie recovered nicely," Copp said. "She finished her tournament even par her final holes and rallied together another phenomenal back 9. She had a great spring season for us."
Fenton put together the most consistent tournament for the Falcons. She shot an 83 in both rounds and finished with a score of 166. Like round one, Fenton owned the final nine holes of the course. She had five pars and birdied the 17th hole on the back nine.
"Brigitte also put together an excellent back nine for the second day in a row," Copp said. "She avoided big numbers and finished one under on her final three holes."
Garcia had a good day for the Falcons in round two. She had six pars and birdied the second hole. Garcia finished round two with an 84, with her first round 80 for a total of 184.
Schau had an excellent start to her day. She racked up seven pars on the front nine. Schau highlighted an excellent performance on the famous 14th hole at the CDA Resort Course for the Falcons. Everyone scored par on that hole except for Schau, who recorded a birdie. Schau turned in an 81 in round two of the GNAC Championships.
"Heading into the day we focused on staying patient until the final six holes," Copp said. "We executed that part of the course well and learned a lot in our first year here. A major highlight was our second-round scores on the 14th-hole floating green. We had four pars, and Anika drained a 20-footer for birdie."
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