FRESNO, Calif. - Two birdies over her final five holes helped sophomore Alice Kim post par and finish third at the Fresno State Lexus Classic on Tuesday, Chelsea Stelzmillertied for fifth and the UC Davis women's golf team placed fourth to open the spring season in strong fashion.
UC Davis shot a final-round score of 17-over 305 on the par-72, 6,072-yard Copper River Country Club course, falling just one spot after entering the day in third.
UC Irvine, ranked No. 21 by Golfstat, overtook first-day leader San Francisco with a team score of 300 while the No. 29 Dons had a 302. The Anteaters ended the 54-hole event at 27-over with USF just one shot behind. Long Beach State, ranked No. 44, fired a 7-over 295 - the best score of the day - to jump past the No. 53 Aggies into third.
UC Davis was three strokes in front of fifth-place San Diego State and 16 in front of host Fresno State which was sixth.
Santa Clara's Miki Ueoka grabbed medalist honors at 7-under after concluding with a 72. She won by three strokes over Kay Hoey of Long Beach State.
Kim, who had a 3-under 69 in Monday's first round, posted her second straight 72 to finish third. She bogeyed two of her first four holes, battled back to even after the 10th but then had a double-bogey on the 11th to go back to 2-over. Birdies on the par-3 14th and par-3 17th took her to even for her round. She posted her fourth top-seven finish in six tournaments in 2008-09.
Stelzmiller had her fourth top-eight showing of the year with her season-best tie for fifth. The Aggie sophomore had two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine and then eight pars on the back, shooting 75 on Tuesday to post a 2-over 218 for the tournament.
Senior Jessica Yam, one of three Aggies playing as an individual, had a strong tournament, carding 78 in the final round to tie for 13th at 9-over. She had 74 and 73 in Monday's rounds.
Kelsey Fischer, also playing as an individual for UC Davis, had her best round with a 75 which featured a pair of birdies and tied for 27th at 15-over. Eryn Williams' 81 on Tuesday was her tournament-low as she placed 61st.
UC Davis returns to the course on Monday and Tuesday at the Julie Inkster Spartan Invitational being hosted by San Jose State.
FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC Copper River Country Club (Fresno, Calif.)
Par 72, 6,072 yards
Final
TEAMS
1. UC Irvine, 297-294-300-891
2. San Francisco, 297-293-302-892
3. Long Beach State, 298-303-295-896
4. UC DAVIS, 296-298-305-899
5. San Diego State, 299-302-301-902
6. Fresno State, 305-306-304-915
7. Nevada, 304-305-311-920
8. Sacramento State, 308-303-316-927
T9. Santa Clara, 303-308-321-932
T9. Portland State, 298-313-321-932
11. Hawaii, 306-313-324-943
12. Gonzaga, 311-317-316-944
13. Boise State, 317-313-321-951
INDIVIDUALS
1. Miki Ueoka, Santa Clara, 68-69-72-209
UC DAVIS
(I) - Playing as an individual
