SEAL BEACH, Calif. — Sydney Smith shot 77-73-150 and leads a quartet of Sacramento State women's golfers in the top 20 after the first day of The Gold Rush on Monday at Old Ranch Country Club. The Hornets shot 305 in both rounds and are in fifth place heading into the final round.
USC holds a 17-stroke lead in the team standings. The Women of Troy were 4-over for the day after identical rounds of 290. UNLV is second at 21-over while Fresno State (+31), Sacramento State (+34) and Cal Poly (+37) complete the top five with a 10-stroke cushion over the next closest team.
Smith was even or better throughout her second round until her final hole. She had a birdie on the par-4 13th and a bogey on the par-4 18th to stand even at the midway point of the afternoon round. She returned to red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 third before a bogey on the par-5 sixth. After two pars, she bogeyed No. 18 to end at 1-over. She is currently tied for eighth place.
Tess Blair and Corinne Viden are part of a six-way tie for 15th place with a two-round total of 153. Blair shot 76 in the second round while Viden carded an 80. Both uncharacteristically had just one birdie in the round.
Freshman Jennifer Koga tied Blair for second on the team during the round with a 76 and is tied for 19th place with a 36-hole total of 154. Koga, played the back nine at 2-over par with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 17. She birdied the par-4 second but then slipped to 5-over with a double bogey on No. 5 and bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8. She closed with a birdie on the par-4 eighth and a par on the ninth.
The Hornets had to fight off a rough start in the first round which saw the team play the back nine at 12-over par before playing holes Nos. 1-9 at 5-over. Viden led the way for the team at 1-over for the round. She was three over through her first nine holes with bogey on Nos. 11, 14 and 18. The junior birdied the par-4 first hole and then had six consecutive pars before a birdie on the par-4 eighth.
Blair and Smith each shot 77 in the first round. Blair was 4-over through her first four holes with a pair of bogeys on Nos. 10 and 12 and a double on No. 13. Her first birdie came on the par-5 16th but she made the turn at 4-over following a bogey on No. 18. Blair eventually rose to 6-over before birdies on the par-5 sixth and par-4 eighth took her back to 4-over. She finished with a bogey on the par-5 ninth.
Smith was 3-over through her first six holes with bogeys on Nos. 11, 14 and 15 but a birdie on the 16th left her at 2-over at the turn. She was 3-over on the front side of the course with bogeys on Nos. 2, 4 and 5.
The team also counted a round of 78 from Koga in the first round. The true freshman had a double bogey on her first hole (No. 10) but had seven pars and one bogey to finish the back nine at 3-over. Her final nine holes saw her have three birdies (Nos. 3, 6 and 9) along with two pars, two bogeys and two double bogeys.
THE GOLD RUSH
Seal Beach, Calif. | Old Ranch CC
Par 72 | 6,248 Yards
Team Standings
1. USC 290-290-580
2. UNLV 307-290-597
3. Fresno State 302-305-607
4. Sacramento State 305-305-610
5. Cal Poly 307-306-613
6. Idaho 308-312-620
7. Long Beach State 323-301-624
T8. Santa Clara 312-313-625
T8. BYU 309-416-625
10. UC Irvine 317-316-633
11. Wyoming 322-315-637
Individual Top Five
1. Allisyn Corpuz, USC, 69-71-140
T2. Elina Sasaka, UNLV, 75-67-142
T2. Alyaa Abdulghany, USC, 71-71-142
T4. Sienna Lyford, UCI, 73-72-143
T4. Malia Nam, USC, 71-74-145
Sacramento State Scores
T8. Sydney Smith 77-73-150
T15. Tess Blair 77-76-153
T15. Corinne Viden 73-80-153
T19. Jennifer Koga 78-76-154
T53. Miki Manta 86-81-167
T57. Guadalupe Dabos* 82-88-170
*Competing as an individual
