Owls Make Strong Statement in Season Opener

Ventura, CA -- The Citrus College Women's Golf Program kicked off their 2015 season with a strong statement earlier this week at the 2015 South Coast Invitational, putting the rest of the State on notice that they'll be a contender this season. The Owls took second place overall out of 13 competing teams, and earned a second place finish in the first conference event of the year, as the second day of the competition also counted as the WSC Neutral Site Event.

Day #1 got off to a rousing start thanks in large part to the play of sophomore Jamie Lopez. Lopez fired an even par 72, that included her first ever career ace, carding a hole-in-one at hole #8 in Olivas Links. Teammate at reigning individual conference champ, Lexandra So was behind her with a 76, while freshman Lexi Tunstad shot an 88, followed up by sophomoreBrittany Thelen's steady 93.

As a team, the Owls shot a 329 which had them third behind first place Santa Barbara, one stroke off second place Sierra College, and just one stroke ahead of fourth place College of the Desert.

On the second day, when the invite moved to Buena Ventura Golf Course and counted in the conference standings, Lopez once again fired a strong 72. So though caught fire cutting nine strokes off her previous day's effort with a five under par 67. Tunstad also showed strong improvement posting an 82, while Thelen posted a round of 93 again for a team total of 314.

The 314 pushed the Owls into second place, besting Sierra who fell to third place by nine strokes on the day and eight on the tournament. Individually, So would finish first for the tournament, just one stroke better than Lopez who finished second.

In the conference standings, Citrus again was second, falling only to Santa Barbara City College. It's the Owls' third second place finish in the last two seasons. So was the top individual golfer on the day with her 67. Lopez would be in a two-way tie for fourth place with her 72, while Tunstad was just one stroke out of a Top 10 appearance.

The Owls will be back at it over this coming weekend beginning on Friday morning at 7:00 AM when they kick-off the Desert Classic Invite which spans two days at Indian Canyons Golf Course in Palm Springs.

http://citrusowls.com/sports/wgolf/2015-16/releases/20150901y4e8tp