[Women's Golf] Singh Finishes Sixth, Leads Hawks to Best Ever Finish

SOLVANG, Calif. – SDCC women's golf had to overcome gusty conditions at the TMU Dutch Classic at the Alisal Ranch Golf Club to earn their best tournament finish in the young program's history. Placing fifth in the nine-team field, the Hawks came in ahead of GSAC opponents William Jessup and The Master's, as well as the CalPac's Marymount California.

The team was led by freshman, Serena Singh, who finished sixth in the forty-five player field, shooting 81 on Monday and 78 during the final round. Her impressive 159 was only 9 strokes off the lead behind the individual winner from Menlo College. Additionally, Singh made 18 pars and played the par fives at an impressive +2 over her two rounds.

Junior, Lilyanna Rodriguez came in with a combined round score of 169, shooting 86 and 81, finished in fourteenth place. Rodriguez also led the entire field in par-three scoring playing the short holes at even par. She was also second in pars made over the course of the tourney with 21, second only to a player from William Jessup.

Freshman, Kylee Gerber, and sophomore Madeline Jones rounded out the scoring for SDCC shooting 188 (99, 89) and 194 (96, 98) respectively. Gerber also shaved 10 strokes off of her day one score.

As a team, SDCC improved on their round one score by a total of 18 strokes. Coach Matt Ward was proud of the women's competitiveness and grit, "This a group of young women who compete and work very hard at every practice and at each event and it shows!! They always maintain a positive attitude no matter the conditions or situation and their play is reflective of that attitude!"

Coach Ward had great things to say about the Hawk's top two individual performers, "Lily has made some great strides and continues to shake off the rust of not playing competitive golf for nearly 2 years.  She's very close to putting everything together and when she does, look out!!!  As Serena progresses with her swing improvements, I believe you'll continue to see a lot of top-5 to top-10 finishes for her."

He was also pleased with the growth from the rest of the team as well, "I know Maddie's scores don't look great, but that was mostly due to 1 or 2 holes each day.  So, once we get those little details ironed out, she'll be right in the mix of top-10 finishes as well.  Kylee continues to learn how to manage her feelings and the pressure of college golf.  She's made great strides over these two events, and I believe she'll continue to play better as she acknowledges the pressure and handles it a bit better.  It's a process for all of them, but I couldn't be more excited for them to watch them continue to grow and improve!  They are a fun and feisty bunch that should only get better as the season moves along."

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The Hawks will return to Arizona on November 15-16 for the 2021 ACU Firestorm Fall Invitational.