The crowd was stunned, unable to speak. Even the new Pac-10 champion, USC freshman Sophia Popov, hesitated in her celebration. But UCLA sophomore Tiffany Lua’s three-foot putt slid right past the hole, assuring there would not be a second playoff hole, just a few minutes after ASU junior Carlota Ciganda posted a double bogey on her last hole to knock her out of the playoff.
And despite losing No. 5 Lisa McCloskey for the final round to an injury, Popov’s victory gave No. 1 USC the Pac-10 team title.
Pressure greatly affected the 2011 Pac-10 Women’s Golf Championships, wreaking havoc on the entire field no matter what team the players were on. It especially hit home for ASU in the first round when expectations were high, since the team had the home course advantage.
“They had to decide to play as a team,” ASU coach Melissa Luellen said. “They really weren’t trusting themselves and then they got dejected, disappointed, frustrated, and that’s a terrible place to play from. So we just have to make a choice and a decision that we are not going to play from that place anymore.”
The team did much better the second and third rounds, including shooting the third highest team total on the final day, a 3-over-par 291, on its way to a sixth place finish overall. It helped that Ciganda had two consecutive under par rounds on the second and final day of the tournament. However, she could not obtain a third Pac-10 title in as many years. Her double bogey on the final hole put her at third in the event behind Popov and Lua.
“It sucks a little bit, but it is golf; you have to play all 18 holes and it’s not enough to play 17,” Ciganda said. “I want to keep playing and practicing and try my best on the next one.”
It was the third win for Popov this year and her second on the ASU Karsten Golf Course.
“I was really scared when I first came here because I didn’t know how college golf was going to be,” Popov said. “I’m just really happy with how it turned out. This is by far our greatest win.”
It was USC’s ability to play together as a team despite only having four players that won the tournament, USC coach Andrea Gaston said. The team received a surprising contribution from sophomore Cyna Rodriguez, who finished tied for sixth, the highest she has finished all year.
Freshman Justine Lee was the surprise story for ASU as she battled back from a 6-over-par 78 to tie with Daniela Ordonez for second on the team and 22nd overall. The consistent improvement from the three freshmen will be a vital weapon for the team as it approaches regionals and nationals.
“We hardly knew each other,” Lee said about when the freshmen first arrived. “We hardly knew the courses, we didn’t know what was going to happen, and now that we know how a tournament is going to be run it was easier.”
Since five of the Pac-10 teams are in the top 10 in the nation, it is likely this tournament won’t be the last time these teams will battle this year. Defending Pac-10 champion UA finished second, four strokes ahead of UCLA, despite Lua’s valiant effort as an individual.
While UA coach Laura Ianello expressed her disappointment, she understood how deep the conference was and just how hard it is to repeat.
“You have to come to conference with determination, and know you have to play well to place well,” Ianello said. “Our girls were really in that midset. They wanted to play well and defend our title. I am very proud of them. They showed a lot of heart today, and as a coach that’s all you can ask for.”
UA’s top player, Isabelle Boineau, finished two shots back from Ciganda in a tie for fourth.
On the eighth hole, Ciganda had a moment where many thought she wouldn’t be stopped. She hit a chip shot out of the sand that took three bounces and rolled into the hole for a birdie. Yet even after an up-and-down day she showed a lot of poise in being able to control her emotions on and off the course.
“Her attitude is to just keep moving forward,” Luellen said. “The young players get really involved with what happened behind them, and they get frustrated, and then they try to push it. She just doesn’t change her game plan. She’s just so in charge of herself and her game.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
