San Jose?San Jose State shot the low round of the day with a 296 to win the 2007 Spartan Invitational by 15 shots over second-place California and Colorado Tuesday afternoon in the final round played at the Almaden Country Club. The Spartans won the tournament for the second consecutive year.
UC Irvine’s Selanee’ Henderson shot a two-under 70 in the final round to win the individual title with a 210. San Jose State’s Jenelle Gomez finished two shots behind with a 212 after shooting a two-over par 74 on Tuesday. Gomez’s three-round total of 212 is lowest round for a Spartan women’s golfer since 1999 when Marcela Leon shot a 212 (-4) at Arizona Invitational to finish in second place. Gomez led the tournament in par four scoring and pars with 41.
“I hit the ball everywhere today, and my putting saved me not only today but all three rounds,” said Gomez. “I just tried to stay calm during my round and just imagine that it was just practice. Playing on the course I grew up on was a big incentive for me to play well. It was fun having big galleries follow us around and cheer for us. We practice here all the time, and it was nice that we could reap the rewards of all the hard work and time the players and coaches have put into this season.”
The Spartans placed four players in the top-10. After Gomez’s second-place finish, Erica Most shot the Spartans’ low round for the day with a one-under 71 to finish in a third-place tie at 220. Cristina Corpus shot a 75, while Sirapa Kasemsamran shot a 76 as both players finished the tournament at 223, which tied them for eighth place with three other players. Kim Pynyasavatsut rounded out the Spartan scoring as she shot a 78 and finished with a 236. In her first collegiate tournament, Kanika Minocha shot an 81 Tuesday for a 241 as she played as an individual.
“Winning wire-to-wire for us is a great accomplishment for this team,” said San Jose State head coach John Dormann. “We are a very young team with two freshmen and two sophomores competing for us this week, and this team had never had a big lead before heading into the final round. We started a little uneasy but started shooting better once we played a few holes and relaxed on the course.
“I am really happy for Jenelle after overcoming injuries and adversities the past few months. She has not played competitively for us since we played at Stanford in October. You could feel that she wanted to do well at this tournament. Even though it didn’t end the way she wanted, Jenelle will learn from this experience and be able to close the deal in future tournaments.”
San Jose State entered the day with an 11-shot lead and extended its lead to 15-shots after shooting the low round of 296. California and UC Irvine each shot a 297, while Idaho and Colorado State shot 299. The Spartans led the tournament in par four scoring and were second in par five scoring at -3. The team made 32 birdies and led the field with 179 pars.
“It was great to win at home, especially with the extra pressure to win,” said Dormann. “We were really thrilled to host the tournament at the Almaden Country Club this year. It is a wonderful course and a first-class facility that we hope will continue to host future tournaments.”