Press Release
3/9/2008 - PACIFIC INVITATIONAL: Bruins and Zefkeles Both 2nd in Pacific Invitational
HILLSBORO/NORTH PLAINS, Ore. - With Brittany Zefkeles tying for second place and Mandy Cameron tying for fifth, the George Fox University Bruins finished second to host Pacific University in the Pacific Women's Invitational Golf Tournament played Saturday and Sunday at two different Portland-area courses.
Pacific placed six players in the top 10 to sew up team honors with a score of 709, while George Fox was next at 731. Linfield College was third at 736 and Corban College was fourth at 854. Lewis & Clark College and Northwest Christian College had three players each in the match, but four are necessary for a team score.
Zefkeles shot a two-day score of 89-81=170, three strokes behind the 85-82=167 by Northwest Christian's Ashley King. Brynn Hurdus of Linfield tied Zefkeles with a 91-79=170. Kelly Hartley of Pacific was fourth with an 88-86=174, while Cameron had a 92-87=179 and Lindsey Huston of Pacific a 97-82-179 to tie for fifth.
Also scoring for the Bruins were Whitney Clunes with a 94-90=184 despite playing with an injured foot, and Brianna Nap at 104-94=198.
"Our young team of three freshmen and one sophomore is playing really well, even though we've been without our captain, Nicole Hudson, due to the basketball playoffs," said Bruins head coach MaryJo McCloskey. "Thus, all four scores have been counting in our tournaments so far this season, as opposed to other teams who have had a best of four out of six situation. I'm extremely proud of this young team, and I look forward to only getting better as we get more into our season."
Saturday's rounds were played at the Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro, while Sunday's rounds were contested on Pumpkin Ridge's Ghost Creek course in North Plains, Ore.
"We played a very difficult Meriwether course in Hillsboro on Saturday," noted McCloskey. "It is not normally quite as difficult, but the players were mistakenly sent off on the wrong tee boxes, so they played a par 73, 6,400 yard course instead of the normal 5,800 average. Despite the length, our team did well; we were just 11 strokes behind Pacific after day one.
"The second day, we played at Pumpkin Ridge, and the scores for all our players dropped significantly. After seven holes, we had gained five strokes on Pacific and were only six strokes behind as a team. Unfortunately, the hazards on the tricky 17th and 18th holes (we played the back nine first) were costly for our players, and we lost some momentum there. We gained some back, but in the end finished second to Pacific."
Next up for the Bruins is the Lady Bruin Spring Invitational, hosted by George Fox, at the Westbrook Village Golf Course in Peoria, Ariz., on Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16. Tee times are 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.