RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – California women's golf recorded their third straight runner-up finish as the Bears fell to no. 6 Vanderbilt in the championship match of the Lamkin Invitational on Wednesday at The Farms Golf Club.
 
The Bears came into the Lamkin Invitational having recorded runner-up finishes at both the Gunrock Classic and the Juli Inskter Invitational at Meadow Club. Playing for the third consecutive week and playing their fourth round in three days, the Bears were unable to keep up with one of the top teams in the country.
 
Cal qualified for the knockout round by finishing seventh during the stroke play portion of the event on Monday morning. The Bears then followed that by defeating San Jose State (3-2) and San Diego State (3.5-1.5) in match play to qualify for the Championship round.
 
Vanderbilt pulled away from the Bears in the end, winning 4-1 as they were able to claim a couple of close victories that went down to the wire.
 
"It was a tight race until the end, we did a good job of fighting against a very good opponent," head coach Nancy McDaniel said. "They changed the tees around a lot, which meant it was playing totally different on about one-third of the course and our players did a good job of adjusting to that."
 
Freshman Katherine Zhu continue her standout debut campaign as she shot 1-over throughout the round to claim a match victory for the Bears, defeating Morgan Baxendale 2&1. Zhu notched birdies on the sixth and 15th holes to move her record to 2-0-1 in match play this week.
 
"I think we realized that Katherine is a very good strategist on the course," McDaniel said. "She thinks about the right things and puts herself in a lot of good situations. It's a delicate balance between playing the course and playing your opponent, and she did an impressive job of understanding that."
 
Marianne Li fell to Auston Kim on the final hole after the two waged a tightly contested battle all day; neither player had more than a one-shot lead at any point. The twosome recorded identical scores on five consecutive holes in the middle of the round as neither could gain separation. Li recorded six birdies to Kim's three, but Li had a costly bogey on the final hole to give the match to Kim, 1-up.
 
Amina Wolf fell in her matchup with Courtney Zeng by a 4&3 margin. Wolf recorded par on nine holes and notched one birdie through the 15 holes of the match. It was a similar story for Cindy Oh who recorded par on 11 holes, but couldn't outlast Louise Yu who took the match 4&3.
 
During the first nine holes, Maria Herraez Galvez recorded five bogeys and sat 3-back of her opponent Abbey Carlson, but Herraez Galvez battled back as she shot 1-under in the back nine and evened the score up with four holes remaining. However, one bogey by Herraez Galvez on the 16th hole followed by Carlson's birdie on 17 sealed the match and the championship for Vanderbilt.
 
"We still need to work on putting together consistent rounds from beginning to end," McDaniel said. "This result will keep us very hungry. We fought, but ultimately we didn't perform that well this week. We have two awesome fields coming up at Silverado and the Pac-12 Championship to continue to challenge ourselves. I am not as worried about the results as getting everyone healthy and ready to go. We have a chance to be really good and I am confident in all seven of our players."
 
The Bears will have next week off from competition as they prepare for the Silverado Showdown. The Silverado Showdown will be held at Silverado Resort in Napa from Sunday, April 7 through Tuesday, April 9.
 
VANDERBILT DEF. CAL (4-1)
Louise Yu (VAN) def. Cindy Oh (CAL) – 4&3
Auston Kim (VAN) def. Marianne Li (CAL) – 1-up   
Katherine Zhu (CAL) def. Morgan Baxendale (VAN) – 2&1
Courtney Zeng (VAN) def. Amina Wolf (CAL) – 4&3
Abbey Carlson (VAN) def. Maria Herraez Galvez (CAL) – 2&1
 
CAL DEF. SAN DIEGO STATE (3.5-1.5)
Cindy Oh (CAL) def. Gioia Carpinelli (SDSU) – 3&1
Marianne Li (CAL) def. Kitty Tam (SDSU) – 6&5 
Katherine Zhu (CAL) vs. Fernanda Escauriza (SDSU) – All Square
Amina Wolf (CAL) def. April Ranches (SDSU) – 4&2
Sara Kjellker (SDSU) def. Maria Herraez Galvez (CAL) – 2&1
*Sofia Lundell (CAL) def. Tatum Mahon (SDSU) – 6&5
 
CAL DEF. SAN JOSE STATE (3-2)
Cindy Oh (CAL) def. Abegail Arevalo (SJSU) - 2&1
Natasha Andrea Oon (SJSU) def. Marianne Li (CAL) - 1-up
Katherine Zhu (CAL) def. Maddie White (SJSU) - 6&4
Franziska Friedrich (SJSU) def. Amina Wolf (CAL) - 4&3
Maria Herraez Galvez (CAL) def. Alexandra Cooper (SJSU) - 4&3
 
STROKE PLAY RESULTS
T10. Katherine Zhu, 76 (+4)
T20. Maria Herraez Galvez, 78 (+6)
T24. Cindy Oh, 79 (+7)
*T32. Sofia Lundell, 80 (+8)
T37. Amina Wolf, 81 (+9)
T47. Marianne Li, 83 (+11)
*Playing as an individual