Oct. 15, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas - San Diego State's Sirene Blair (South Jordan, Utah) posted her third straight top-10 individual finish on Tuesday after tying for seventh place following the final round of the 40th annual Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational at the University of Texas Golf Club. The Aztec freshman carded a 1-under par 71 over the final 18 holes for a three-day total of 5-under 211 to finish seven shots behind the leader.
Despite shaving six strokes off its second-round total, SDSU was unable to improve upon its ninth-place position in the team standings, completing the tournament at 14-over 878 after carding a combined 291 Tuesday on the par-72, 6,143-yard layout.
Blair was stung by a double-bogey on the par-4, 379-yard No. 10, her second hole of the day, but regrouped in strong fashion with seven consecutive pars, followed by four birdies over her final eight holes en route to her third straight sub-par round in as many days. With her effort, Blair wound up seven shots out of first behind UCLA's Alison Lee (-12), who claimed medalist honors over teammate Bronte Law (-8) and Dana Finkelstein of UNLV (-8).
Elsewhere, Emma Henrikson (Malmö, Sweden) was SDSU second finisher, tying for the 26th spot at 2-over 218 after logging a final-round 74. The Aztec sophomore got off to a promising start with a birdie on her first hole of the day, the par-5, 426-yard No. 9, but had her momentum short-circuited by a bogey at No. 2 sandwiched around a pair of double-bogeys at Nos. 14 and 6.
In addition, fellow classmate Shannon Lubar (Littleton, Colo.) and senior Maureen Dunnagan (Lexington, S.C.) both shot a 73 on Tuesday to figure in SDSU's team score. Despite four birdies on the day, Lubar was hampered by trio of bogeys and a double-bogey, landing in a tie for the 48th spot at 8-over 224. Meanwhile, Dunnagan recorded her lowest round as an Aztec, highlighted by four birdies, to tie for 65th at 13-over 229.
UCLA (-22) posted a tournament-low round of 275 on Tuesday to capture the team title over second-place Arizona State (-16), while Miami (-5), Iowa State (-2) and SMU (+8) comprised the remainder of the top five.
San Diego State will now have two weeks off before competing in its final tournament of the fall schedule at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, Oct. 27-29, at Stallion Mountain Golf Club.
Betsy Rawls Longhorn InvitationalFinal ResultsUniversity of Texas Golf ClubAustin, TexasPar 72, 6,143 yards
Team Scores (Top 5 of 18 schools + SDSU)1. UCLA 281-282-275--842 (-22)2. Arizona State 283-283-292--848 (-16)3. Miami 276-292-291--859 (-5)4. Iowa State 291-282-289--862 (-2)5. SMU 284-291-292--872 (+8) -----9. San Diego State 290-297-291--878 (+14)
Individual Leaders (Top 6 of 94 individuals + SDSU)1. Alison Lee, UCLA 69-68-67--204 (-12)T2. Bronte Law, UCLA 69-72-67--208 (-8)T2. Dana Finkelstein, UNLV 71-69-68--208 (-8)4. Sammi Stevens, New Mexico 70-72-67--209 (-7)T5. Cajsa Persson, Iowa State 69-69-72--210 (-6)T5. Tonje Daffinrud, Denver 67-70-68--210 (-6)-----T7. Sirene Blair, SDSU 70-70-71--211 (-5)T26. Emma Henrikson, SDSU 72-72-74--218 (+2)T48. Shannon Lubar, SDSU 73-78-73--223 (+8)T65. Maureen Dunnagan, SDSU 79-77-73--229 (+13) -- Paige Spiranac, SDSU 75-79-WD--WD