The CSUN women’s golf team finished in fourth place (329-314-643) in its opening tournament at the La Quinta Mountain Shootout in Flagstaff, Ariz. on Sept. 17 and 18.

Northern Arizona (324-307-631), the tournament host, won the tournament by just one shot as New Mexico State (324-308-632) followed in second place. San Diego State (328-313-641) came in third, just two shots better than CSUN.

Head coach Bonnie Murphy said she was pleased with the results.

“I was real happy with fourth place,” said Murphy. “That’s kind of where I expected them to fall in for the first tournament.”

Murphy said that she expected Northern Arizona to win because as hosts of the tournament, they knew the course best.

“New Mexico State and San Diego State are both ranked higher nationally,” said Murphy. “We only lost to San Diego State by two strokes. Over two days we were only 12 strokes out of first place.”

Northern Arizona’s Sophia Choi won the individual championship with a seven over-par 151.

CSUN senior Lucy Davies finished tied for fourth at fourteen over-par, 158. Davies shot an 81 on Sept. 17 and followed up with a 77 on Sept. 18. This was Davies third career top-ten finish.

“She did very, very well,” said Murphy, who expects great things from Davies this season.

“If she keeps hitting the ball like she’s hitting it, I’d like to see her win conference,” said Murphy. “I know she can do it and if we don’t go to post-season as a team, I would think she’s going to have a very good chance of going as an individual.”

Junior Stephanie Aston carded back-to-back rounds of 81, finishing at +18, 162, which tied for 18th place.

Murphy said that Aston has been very consistent, but struggled on two holes at the tournament.

“She would have been second or third place overall, if not for those two holes,” said Murphy. “She’s really close to really breaking out.”

Junior Katrina Sutton finished right behind at +19, 163, after shooting rounds of 83-80. Sophomore Monique Huijsman tied for 21st with her rounds of 88-76 to finish at +20, 164. Junior Krystina Gillenwater shot 84-83 to finish at 23 over-par, 167 and in 27th place.

Sutton recently scored a hole-in-one, the second of her career, at Woodland Hills Country Club. Sutton’s first hole-in-one was also at the Woodland Hills course, where the team plays every Thursday. Murphy said the course is very tough and unforgiving, and not a favorite among her players.

“The first day at Woodland Hills we had four scores in the 70’s,” said Murphy. “I was real excited. If you can shot in the seventies here, you can shoot in the 70’s anywhere.”

Murphy said her team is “much stronger this year” and the team has moved up in the rankings.

“Last year we were 180th in the nation,” said Murphy. “The last ranking came out and we were 160th. We moved up a little bit, but I anticipate we’re gonna move up a lot this year.”

Eva Yoe, a senior transfer from Eastern Washington, is one of the reasons Murphy believes her team is stronger. Yoe wasn’t certified to travel yet for the team, so she didn’t play in the Northern Arizona tournament.

“She would have been one of the travelers,” said Murphy. “She’s been playing solid for me. I think she’ll do really well at the next event. She’s just steady. Really, really steady.”

The team is in the middle of qualifying for the next tournament on Oct. 15-16 at the Taylormade/Lady Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

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