March 6, 2012

McDaniel Interview | Lee Interview

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The No. 13 California Golden Bears used a steady final round to defend their title at the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational at the par-72, 6,169 yard Almaden Golf Course in San Jose. Senior Joanne Lee earned the second medalist honors of her career.

The Golden Bears entered the final round with a five-stroke lead over second-place UC Davis. The Bears replicated their second round score, carding a 296, to hold steady. Davis, however, had a rough day out on the extremely windy course, shooting a 313 in the final round to drop to third place. Oregon shot one stroke better than Cal on the day, but finished 13 strokes behind to place second.

The team victory is the Bears second in the two tournaments they have played so far this spring. It's the 26th overall in the history of the program. The Bears have dominated the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational, winning it for the third time in a row.

"The final round was a little up-and-down in the beginning," said head coach Nancy McDaniel. "The first twelve holes we got off to a great start, but then we slid back a little bit. The last six holes, when they were playing into the wind, they really buckled down and dug in their heels. I am really proud of them for the way they played. The finish was really good."

Senior Joanne Lee came from behind to earn the individual medalist honors. Lee got off to a rough start, making the turn at +4. She started the back nine with a birdie on ten. She closed out her round sinking a pair of 30-foot putts to birdie 17 and 18.

"It was an amazing round today," said Lee. "It got really windy. Yesterday was the most-beautiful I have ever seen this course. It's always a pleasure coming out here. It was awesome. I fought until the finish."

Lee's back-to-back birdies on the final two holes were enough to push her past the leader after the first two rounds, her teammate senior Daniela Holmqvist. Holmqvist started the day at four-under, but shot a three-over final round to finish at one-under for the tournament, and one stroke back of Lee.

Senior Emily Childs, last year's medalist at this tournament, chipped in on 18 to finish with an even-par round. Overall, Childs finished at +6, tying for sixth place.

The Bears will next head south to San Diego where they will compete at The Battle at the Rancho Bernardo Inn March 18-20. They close out the month of March competing in the Maui Invitational on the 26-27.

California Scores

1 	Joanne Lee      	71 	70 	73 	214
2 	Daniela Holmqvist  	71 	69 	75 	215
T6 	Emily Childs     	72 	78 	72 	222
T17 	Nicola Roessler  	73 	79 	77 	229
T25 	Jaqueline Williams 	73 	83 	76 	232>/PRE>
Individual Scores
T17 	Morgan Thompson 	73 	77 	79 	229
T34 	Joi Pentin      	76 	82 	79 	237
T37 	Jo Ee Kok        	79 	78 	81 	238
Team Scores
1 California
	+15 	F 	  +8 	287 	296 	296 	879
2 Oregon
	+28 	F 	  +7 	297 	300 	295 	892
3 UC Davis
	+37 	F 	  +25 	295 	293 	313 	901
4 Washington
	+43 	F 	  +23 	296 	300 	311 	907
5 UC Irvine
	+45 	F 	  +17 	301 	303 	305 	909
6 San Jose State
	+58 	F 	  +30 	300 	304 	318 	922
7 Fresno State
	+75 	F 	  +23 	313 	315 	311 	939
8 Colorado State
	+79 	F 	  +36 	309 	310 	324 	943
9 Gonzaga
	+82 	F 	  +40 	306 	312 	328 	946
10 San Francisco
	+94 	F 	  +42 	315 	313 	330 	958
11 Nevada
	+97 	F 	  +41 	318 	314 	329 	961
12 Hawaii
	+120 	F 	  +47 	323 	326 	335 	984