The Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento may be 87 miles away from campus, but it has given the Cal women's golf team a home course advantage in recent years.

Del Paso plays host to the annual Gunrock Invitational, where the Golden Bears captured the team and individual titles in 2020. Then in 2021, Cal had its best team performance in six years.

"Golf is an interesting sport in that you can find a course that you just have good vibes on, and I feel like we have that there," Cal head coach Nancy McDaniel said. "You get into a certain environment where you know the holes and you've played there a few years, and it starts to become a little home away from home."

Senior Katherine Zhu has created especially good memories at Del Paso. She won her only collegiate individual title there in 2020, which at the time gave the Bears their first medalist in four years. Her performance also helped Cal win the team championship, which was also the first for the program in four seasons.

At the 2021 Gunrock Invitational, Zhu shot 6-under par – the best of her career and lowest score for a Golden Bear since 2018. Cal shot 7-under as a team, which was its best performance since 2015.

"Katherine has had a good walk around that course," McDaniel said.

The 2022 Gunrock Invitational, which runs Monday-Tuesday, is the beginning of a jam-packed spring schedule for the Bears. Cal will play in tournaments in each of the next four weeks. The Bears play in six spring tournaments before the Pac-12 Championships in late April.

"Tournament rounds are just so different than practice," McDaniel said. "It's great to get as many tournament rounds as you can. That's where you learn. The big word for us is experience – just getting those experiences in so we can learn and adjust."

Sophomore Mika Jin, who was the Bears' low scorer during the fall season, will make her spring debut this week after recovering from a wrist injury. Junior Kristine Tran, who only qualified once to make Cal's lineup in the fall, is in the Bears' second spot this week.

"Kristine has the same physical game but a different way of looking at it," McDaniel said. "Her mental game has come around and she is feeling clear and confident over the ball. When players are clear and confident over the ball, good things happen."

The Gunrock Invitational features 11 teams, including No. 1 Stanford and No. 25 BYU. The first 36 holes will be played on Monday with the final 18 taking place on Tuesday.
 

CAL'S LINEUP
1. Katherine Zhu
2. Kristine Tran
3. Cristina Ochoa
4. Mika Jin
5. Jasmine Lew
Individual: Tzu-Yi Chang