PRESCOTT, Ariz. (Oct. 10, 2022)- The Whittier women finished as the runner-up among five schools competing at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Co-Ed Invite in Prescott, Arizona.
Embry-Riddle, playing on its home course, finished first at +51, while the Poets ended at 149 over par, well ahead of third-place Soka University at +265.
The schools each played three rounds this weekend.
Among the 28 women golfers at the tournament, junior Caroline Valle finished eighth (+32) overall, while senior Aleena Mendoza came in ninth (+36) for the Poets. Both golfers shot 10 over par on Monday, the final day of the tournament.
Whittier sophomore Jacqueline Torres (+44), who finished tied for 12th individually, tied for the tournament lead with seven birdies (Valle had four, and Mendoze had two).
Freshman Sophie Tipton of Los Alamitos shot +69 in the tournament, landing in 19th individually.
The Whittier men (+86) also played the tournament, finishing in fifth place of six schools competing. Redlands (+28) won the tournament, narrowly edging host Embry-Riddle (+32) by four strokes.
Junior Jackson Bragg (+12) tied for 11th place individually of the 39 men golfers in Prescott. Bragg tied for the tournament lead in eagles (two) with Redlands' Aaron Buck, who finished third individually at three over par.
Freshman Ayaan Jung of Bangalore tied for 20th (+22), sophomore Nadir Khan (+26) tied for 29th, sophomore Neeraj Shetty (+29) landed in 31st and junior Jusraunuq Farmahan (+43) finished 38th.
"Any time we can get both the guys' and girls' teams traveling and seeing new places offers a chance for us to come together to face the challenge of playing golf in different conditions than we are accustomed to," Bragg said. "Stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself is all you can ask for as a golfer."
He envisions the experience benefiting the Whittier golf program.
"Now we have the chance as individuals and as a team to take the next three to four months of downtime to improve all aspects of our game and contiue striving to get better," Bragg said.
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