Results
LAS VEGAS – The Grand Canyon women's golf team moved up the leaderboard before settling for a eighth-place finish Tuesday at the 13-team Rebel Beach Invitational, hosted by UNLV.
On a blustery day with winds over 20 mph, the Lopes were bunched with several teams that were within six shots of the lead during final-round action at Spanish Trail Country Club. Tulsa held off Fresno State for the team title.
Senior
Siripatsorn Patchana led the Lopes with a top-10 finish. Her steady play with 15 pars in the final round resulted in a tie for seventh place.
Despite an up-and-down final round, GCU freshman
Lani Luafalealo recorded the second-most birdies in the tournament with 12 birdies. As a team, the Lopes recorded 34 birdies to tie for third.
In addition to Patchana's tie for seventh place, other GCU finishes included sophomore
Carmen Belmonte (tied for 17th), Luafalealo (tied for 24th), junior
Payton Fehringer (tied for 32nd), senior
Carolina Sandstrom (tied for 48th) and junior
Madison Voisard (tied for 52nd).
GCU is back in action March 1-2 when it hosts the GCU Invitational at GCU Championship Golf Course.
Day 1
The Lopes entered the final day in sixth place (12 over par). New Mexico (5 over par) led the Rebel Beach Invitational, followed by Gonzaga (6 over par), Fresno State (7 over par), Tulsa (11 over par) and Iowa (11 over par).
Belmonte led the Lopes after firing a first-round 73 and moving to even for the tournament by playing 1 under par on the first 15 holes of her second round. She ended the day in a tie for fifth place.
Patchana fired a 71 (1 under par) in the first round for the Lopes' best completed round of the first day. Patchana entered Tuesday in a tie for ninth at 1 over par after she birdied two of her final three holes Monday, when darkness ended her second round with two holes remaining.
Other GCU first-round scores included Sandstrom's 75, Luafalealo's 76, Voisard's 79 and Fehringer's 80.
The field's first-round average score was 76.0.
Â