GCU captures 1st place to open season in Utah

Sunday, September 10

Provo, Utah | Timpanogos Golf Club

Grand Canyon

Timpanogos Collegiate Invitational

9/12/2023 1:40:00 PM | Women's Golf

Final Results

Lopes trio cracks top 10 as team shoots 27 under to top 18 teams

By: Nick Macdonald

PROVO, Utah – A day after breaking two school records and setting personal-best scores, the Grand Canyon women's golf team continued its dominant play Tuesday by winning the Timpanogos Collegiate Invitational, using a 10-under-par final round to finish 27 under and nine strokes ahead of runner-up Santa Clara.

After sitting tied for eighth place at 1 over through Sunday's first 18 holes, the Lopes arguably had the best 36-hole run in the program's Division I era. GCU shot 28 under over the final two rounds to pull away from a 19-team field at Timpanogos Golf Club.

"I'm so proud of this team and very impressed with their mentality," GCU head coach Lauren Giesecke said. "This team believes in themselves and our goals more than any team I've coached. We started a little slower after the first round, but none of them doubted their skills. We shattered some school records, personal bests, and are coming back to GCU with some hardware.

"It's difficult to keep the pedal to the metal when you're going low during a tournament, so the fact that they did it throughout the entire tourney should be a big confidence booster."

Six fellow WAC teams competed in the season-opening tournament hosted by Utah Valley, with the Lopes finishing 19 strokes higher than the host that placed second among conference programs. Other WAC teams included UT Arlington, Southern Utah, Utah Tech and Tarleton.

The dominant run began with a record-breaking Monday, when GCU shot 18 under with 22 birdies and two eagles in the second round. The Lopes followed that up Tuesday with a 10-under final round that featured 23 birdies and an eagle.

GCU junior Leighton Shosted took second place among the 104-player field, carding a 54-hole score of 12 under. Shosted shot 3 under par Tuesday with four birdies and an eagle on the par-five 10th hole. The eagle was the third in two days on that hole for GCU.

"I'm so happy for Leighton and her second-place finish," Giesecke said. "She brings a lot of personality and energy to our team that wil keep driving us to success. Leighton understands her game very well both mentally and physically, so it's a lot of fun to be on the course with her. First tourney of a great career here at GCU."

Reigning WAC Freshman of the Year Ryan Flynn jumped 30 spots into a tie for fourth place with a 7-under final round and 8-under tournament score. With many great rounds since joining the Lopes last year, Flynn may have had her best one Tuesday, tallying eight birdies with six of them coming on the back nine. After a birdie on No. 10 and her lone bogey of the round on No. 12, Flynn recorded five straight birdies between holes 13-17 to catapult up the leaderboard into a top-five finish.

Lopes junior Becca Tschetter also recorded a top-10 score, tying for ninth at 5 under after an even sheet Tuesday. Tschetter set a new personal best Monday and stayed consistent Tuesday with three birdies and 13 pars in the final round. Classmate Constanza Guerrero also shot an even scorecard Tuesday and tied for 19th overall at 2 under. Guerrero had four birdies over the final 18 holes.

GCU freshman Eunice Han had her best round of the tournament Tuesday, shooting even par with four birdies. All four birdies came within a seven-hole stretch between holes 11-17 as she tied for 62nd at 8 over.

Dating back to last season, the season-opening tournament wins marks the third victory for the Lopes in the calendar year of 2023. The Lopes have won at least two tournaments in every season since 2020-21 with Tuesday's tournament win marking the quickest victory to start a season in that span.