USC crowned Pac-12 Women's Golf champions
PLEASANTON, Calif. – USC had a record-breaking performance as they clinched the 2016 Pac-12 Women’s Golf team title at Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton, Calif., on Wednesday.
USC thrived on top of the leaderboard the entire tournament and claimed its fifth Pac-12 Championship title. UCLA and ARIZONA STATE charged at the Trojans in the third round to cut the deficit early, but solid play kept USC in the lead. As a team, USC shot 278-275-293—846 (-18).
The Bruins and the Sun Devils surged up the leaderboard in the third round. Both teams showed a promising comeback and UCLA secured the second place position 282-284-283—849 (-15) as Arizona State took third 285-284-282—851 (-13). “Congratulations to both UCLA and ASU, they really took a run at our team today,” said USC head coach Andrea Gaston. “That just speaks highly of our conference overall. This year’s championship had many record-breaking performances between the individuals and teams.”
The race to the individual title was competitive, as USC’s Gabriella Then, UCLA’s Bronte Law and Lilia Vu and ASU’s Linnea Strom were all in contention for the crown until Strom pulled away from the competition.
ARIZONA STATE’s Strom notched the top of the individual leaderboard shooting 6-under 66 on the final day and winning the Pac-12 individual title. Strom shot a Championships record of 205 to break the mark set by Caroline Inglis of Oregon in 2015. Strom also received first team All-Pac-12 honors.
UCLA’s top-ranked golfer Bronte Law charged late to shoot a second place score of 70-70-66—206 (-10), one stroke behind Strom. After posting a 66, Law put herself in contention to win the individual title, but Strom hit a birdie at the 18th hole to close out the victory. “I set myself up at six under and I thought that would be good, but Linnea played a really good round,” said Law. “It wasn't quite good enough this time, I need to continue to play well.” Law was also on the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team.
Lilia Vu of UCLA went two strokes behind Law to clinch third and tied with Gabriella Then of USC. Four Pac-12 golfers tied to round out the top 5.
| Final Team Results (Par 72, 6458 yards) |
| 1. USC 278-275-293—846 (-18) |
| 2. UCLA 282-284-283—849 (-15) |
| 3. Arizona State 285-284-282—851 (-13) |
| 4. Arizona 286-280-290—856 (-8) |
| 5. Colorado 286-284-294—864 (E) |
| 6. Washington 289-292-285—866 (+2) |
| 7. Stanford 287-294-290—871 (+7) |
| 8. Oregon 286-289-303—878 (+14) |
| 9. California 295-289-297—881 (+17) |
| 10. Oregon State 292-293-297—882 (+18) |
| 11. Washington State 287 294 303 884 (+20) |
| Final Individual Leaders (Par 70, 7,257 yards) |
| 1. Linnea Strom, 71-68-66—205 (-11) |
| 2. Bronte Law, UCLA 70-70-66—206 (-10) |
| T3. Gabriella Then, USC 70-65-73—208 (-8) |
| T3. Lilia Vu, UCLA 70-69-69—208 (-8) |
| T5. Alexis Keating, COLO 70-66-74—210 (-6) |
| T5. Krystal Quihuis, ARIZ 72 69 69—210 (-6) |
| T5. Charlotte Thomas, WASH 75-67-68—210 (-6) |
| T5. Monica Vaughn, ASU 69-72-69—210 (-6) |
| 9. Haley Moore, ARIZ 66-72-73—211 (-5) |
| T10. Tiffany Chan, USC 67-72-74—213 (-3) |
| T10. Karen Chung, USC 71-69-73—213 (-3) |
ALL-PAC-12 HONORS
| First Team |
| Tiffany Chan, JR, USC |
| Karen Chung, JR, USC |
| Lauren Kim, SR, Stanford |
| Bronte Law, JR, UCLA |
| Esther Lee, JR, Colorado |
| Robynn Ree, FR, USC |
| Mariah Stackhouse, SR, Stanford |
| Linnea Strom, FR, Arizona St. |
| Hannah Suh, SR, California |
| Charlotte Thomas, SR, Washington |
| Monica Vaughn, JR, Arizona St. |
| Lilia Vu, FR, UCLA |
| Honorable Mention |
| Shannon Aubert, SO, Stanford |
| Lucia Gutierrez, JR, California |
| Ying Luo, SR, Washington |
| Louise Ridderstrom, SR UCLA |
| Gabriella Then, JR, USC |
| Krystal Quihuis, SO, Arizona |
| Bethany Wu, FR, UCLA |
| Caroline Inglis, SR, Oregon |