Dominant 3-day effort takes 2nd spring tourney title

Sunday, April 9

Goodyear, Ariz. | Golf Club of Estrella

Grand Canyon

Bobcat Desert Classic

4/9/2023 5:54:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results Photo Gallery

GCU's Guerrero runs away with medalist honors; Lopes put 5 in top 12

By: Nick Macdonald

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – As temperatures warm up, the play of the Grand Canyon women's golf team is getting hotter now that the Lopes captured their second tournament title of the spring on Tuesday.

GCU blew away 10 opposing teams at the Bobcat Desert Classic, finishing at 1 under par as a team to beat runner-up Idaho by 15 strokes and third-place Weber State by 28 strokes at Golf Club of Estrella.

Lopes junior Constanza Guerrero ran away with medalist honors at 8 under par for the tournament, shooting under par in each round as five GCU players cracked the field's top 12.

The Lopes head to this month's WAC Championships in Blaine, Washington, with outstanding momentum after also winning hte Jackrabbit Invitational last month in Boulder City, Nevada, in addition to recording two second-place tournament finishes and two third-place finishes since February, GCU has won two tournaments for the third consecutive season.

The Lopes obliterated the Bobcat Desert Classic field by shooting the low team score in each of the three rounds since Sunday. They saved their best for last in Tuesday's final round, when they were 5 under as a team with five GCU players shooting par or better.

Guerrero was never challenged Tuesday as she followed up the tournament's best round, Sunday's 6-under 66, with consecutive 1-under rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Guerrero also tied for first place at the Jackrabbit Invitational four weeks ago with a 6-under performance.

The Spaniard carded a tournament-best 14 birdies for the tournament and played the par-4 holes at 5 under over three rounds.

Lopes junior Carly Strole and freshman Ryan Flynn tied for third place at 2 over after both played below-par rounds on Tuesday. Strole opened with birdies on her first two holes to charge up the leaderboard and added an 11th-hole eagle from the fairway to highlight her 2-under final round. Flynn played her best round Tuesday at 1 under, recovering from a rough start with five birdies on a seven-hole stretch in the middle of her round.

GCU junior Becca Tschetter, who was steady with 15 pars, also shot 1 below Tuesday to get to a 10th-place tie at 6 over for the tournament with junior teammate Lani Luafalealo, who was entered as an individual and did not factor into the team score. Luafalealo ended the tournament with her best round Tuesday by sinking birdies on her final two holes.

Day 2 recap

The Grand Canyon women's golf team kept its momentum from Day 1 rolling into Day 2 of the Bobcat Desert Classic at the Golf Club of Estrella, shooting 3 over par Monday for a first-place score of 4 over par for the tournament.

GCU leads by 12 strokes over second-place Idaho and 15 strokes over third-place Utah Tech. The Lopes repeated Sunday's feat of having the lowest score of the day on Monday.

Lopes junior Constanza Guerrero carded her second straight under-par round, tallying a 1-under Monday to improve her overall score to 7 under. Guerrero birdied two of the last three holes and leads the field with 10 birdies for the tournament. She is also the field's leader in par-3 scoring (2.63 strokes per hole) and par-4 scoring (3.85). She leads Northern Arizona's Ellena Slater by eight strokes heading into the final round.

GCU freshman Ryan Flynn jumped nine spots into the top 10 and is tied for fifth at 3 over par. Flynn went even Monday with three birdies. Also in the top 10 is Lopes junior Carly Strole, who is tied for eighth at 4 over par. The trio of Guerrero, Flynn and Strole join Idaho with three players in the top 10 from the same team.

Junior Becca Tschetter is tied for 18th at 7 over while senior teammate Carmen Belmonte is tied for 22nd at 8 over. The two combined for six birdies as the Lopes lead the field with 26 birdies. Junior Lani Luafalealo competed as an individual and is tied for 16th at 6 over.

The third and final round begins Tuesday morning with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. Live results can be found here.

Day 1 recap

The Grand Canyon women's golf team has been on a tear this spring, finishing five of its six spring tournaments in the top three with three top-two placements. The Lopes are on pace to continue that trend ending the Bobcat Desert Classic's first round with the lead Sunday at Golf Club of Estrella.

At 1 over par, GCU is six strokes ahead of second-place Idaho and eight strokes above third-place Northern Arizona. The Lopes enter the second round Monday tied for first in total pars (61) and total birdies (11).

Guerrero, who won WAC Golfer of the Week nearly a month ago, leads the field at 6 under par. Her first-round score of 66 was one shy of the school's Division I-era record for a single-round score. The Huelva, Spain, native tallied two birdies through the front nine before rallying off four on the back, including back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18. She is three strokes above second-place Ellena Slater of Northern Arizona.

Strole ended the afternoon in a tie for sixth place at 1 over par. Strole had two birdies as GCU is one of three teams in the 11-team field with two players in the top 10 after Day 1. Flynn, Tschetter and Luafalealo tied for 15th at 3 over. The trio combined for six birdies with Luafalealo's competing as an individual. Belmonte is tied for 38th at 7 over after 18 holes.