Kapolei, HI — UC Davis women's golf wrapped up their fall portion of the schedule with another top-five result, finishing tied for second at the 27th annual Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Skyler May was the bright spot individually for the Aggies all-week, tying for third place on the leaderboards.May and the Aggies strong finish to the fall caps off a career start to the season for
Demi Runas and her team.
With a round three, 13-under 275 as a team, the Aggies turned in a new record for lowest single round score in UC Davis history. The 275 score breaks a past record of 277, a score that had been in place since the 2011 season.
With May finishing in the top-three, the Aggies had a top-15 finisher at each of their four fall tournaments, while having a top-10 finisher in their last three events.
DAY THREE
Surging up even more on the third and final day, the Aggies shared the top score with Baylor in round three to finish the Rainbow Wahine Invitational tied for second place.
The Aggies as a unit saved their best golf for the last day, having four members of the lineup contribute under-par rounds to finish today at their record breaking 13-under 275.
Skyler May yet again led UC Davis with six birdies, carding a 4-under 68. Just one stroke off from the top-spot, May led the field in eagles, carded 11 birdies in total, and turned in the best scoring numbers on par 5s; going 6-under par throughout the whole tournament on the long distance holes.
Abby Leighton,
Lauren Calderon and
Vani Karimanal helped May fuel the record low score for UC Davis, accounting for the rest of the Aggies to be under-par during round three.
Leighton had the most birdies among the Aggies, recording 13 with seven coming in today's final round. After not being under-par in her past two rounds, Leighton displayed her experience and grit, soaring up 13 spots on the board during the final round with this strong 4-under 68 effort in her final round of the fall.
Calderon's round echoed that of Leighton's as she also carded seven birdies with five coming on the front nine. She made an equally impressive jump up the boards as well, climbing 23 spots to place tied for 30th. She finished today's round at 4-under 68.
Karimanal bounced back from a 76 yesterday and had her best round of the tournament with a 2-under 70. She nearly doubled her birdie total during today's round carding five today after having just three total in the past two rounds. The freshman displayed great perseverance and wise course management all week that shows just how bright of a future she can have with the Aggies. She finished tied for 30th.
Elle Rastvortseva rounded out the Aggies lineup, shooting a 5-over 77 with one birdie on the 362 yard hole 4.
Katelyn Parr concluded her individual run at the tournament with a 2-over 74, carding a birdie on the 307 yard hole 9.
The Aggies will have an extensive break, as they return back to action in the spring with February 5-6 serving as their first spring action with the team traveling to Seal Beach Country Club for the Beach Invitational.
DAY TWO
Skyler May continued to impress, soaring all the way up to third on the individual leaderboard after carding an impressive two eagles and two birdies.
As a team, the Aggies fired a 1-over 289, good for the second-best round two score on the ledger. The strong performance today, helped UC Davis climb up three spots on the team leaderboards, slotting the Aggies in third place with just one round to go. Through two rounds the Aggies are at 12-over 588.
Baylor still maintains the top spot at 7-under 569.
Skyler May was once again dialed in at Kapolei Golf Course, turning in a career-round highlighted by two eagle efforts. After starting her day off with an early bogey, May settled in and dominated the course. These moments of brilliance for May specifically came on the 307-yard 9th hole, as well as the 502-yard 14th hole. Sitting at 2-under, May soared up nine spots on the leaderboards with her strong round, and trails the leader by just three strokes.
A pair of Aggies in the form of Elle Rastvorteva and
Vani Karimanal follow right behind May, both slotting in tied for 29th after round two. Rastvortseva responded with the second-best score among all Aggies today, shaking off her score from yesterday by turning in five birdies, and concluding her day with three straight to finish her round.
Karimanal's early portion of her round was favorable to her, as she recorded 10 pars and one birdie during her first 11 holes of play today.
Abby Leighton and
Lauren Calderon wrapped up the scoring for UC Davis, as both carded 2-over 74 rounds with Leighton tied for 35th place, and Calderon just sitting outside the top-50, tying for 53rd place as it stands.
Katelyn Parr competing as an individual fired a 4-over 76, today after turning in a 2-over 74 during the opening round of play.
The Aggies will be back in action tomorrow for round three with another shotgun start beginning at 9:00 a.m. HST. Follow along with the final results on
Golfstat.
DAY ONE
Junior
Skyler May shined during day one of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, carding three birdies to lead the Aggies who are tied for sixth place after round one.
The Aggies finished the day with a 11-over 299, placing them tied for sixth in the team standings. One of the most prestigious tournaments in all of golf, the Aggies have had notable success at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, being just one of 17 colleges ever to capture a team championship.
Baylor leads the tournament at 3-under 285, just one stroke ahead of second-placed New Mexico State who are the lone pair of teams under-par.
As a team, the Aggies carded 12 birdies, with
Abby Leighton and the aforementioned May, tying for a team-high three.
May consistently was giving herself a chance to score on each hole today. Because of this, she finds herself tied for 12th individually. Starting on hole 11, May got off to a strong start, recording two birdies within her first five holes. After this early run, May was able to mitigate some damage and shrugged off a three bogey stretch late to finish out her round with a par on the seventh hole, and conclude with three straight pars.
Vani Karimanal was also a bright spot, firing a 1-over 73, to trail May by just one stroke. Starting her round off with a bogey on hole 12, and another on 17, she battled back to deliver a strong finish, carding two birdies with one on hole four, and the other on six. Her two early bogeys were balanced out by 10 straight holes of par or under-par play. After round one, Karimanal along with May are the two lone Aggies within the top-20 as the star freshman is tied for 19th.
Leighton battled through the windy island breeze and delivered strong performances on par 5s to slot in tied for 37th after day one. With her and May leading the Aggies with three birdies, Leighton offset some struggling bogey efforts with a dominant showing on par 5s, shooting 1-under on these long holes. Overall, Leighton was 4-over 76 during round one.
Elle Rastvortseva and
Lauren Calderon rounded out the Aggie lineup with Rastvortseva at 6-over 78, while Calderon who didn't account for the Aggie total, was at 7-over 79. Rastvortseva found success on hole nine and hole 17, carding birdies on each. She also added nine pars today.