Reports From LBSU
After a tense battle all week, Long Beach State pulled away on the back nine to win a second consecutive Big West Championship, defeating second-place CSUN by eight shots at Moorpark Country Club. Senior Haley Tygret was in a class by herself, shooting the low round on the final day to finish 4-under for the tournament, winning the 2019 Big West Individual Championship by an impressive five shots.
“The four-fifths of the returners from last year’s team was big, knowing what to do to win was a big part of the decision-making in this five we took to the tournament,” said Long Beach State head coach Joey Cerulle. “I think the fact that the coaching staff can trust any single person any single day to do their job, it made our jobs a lot easier on the golf course. It allowed us to spend more time with Haley too, to give her some extra so she could close the deal today and get the win.
“I’m super proud of that kid. Two years in a row we’ve had a senior get their first win at the conference championship. That’s a pretty awesome thing to do to break out your first one when it matters most.”
Tygret shot a final-round 70, her second consecutive round of 2-under to finish at -4 for the week. She was the only golfer to not have a single round over par, and she turned a two-stroke deficit into a five-shot victory during Wednesday’s final round. She made nine pars on the front nine to make the turn at even par, and birdied 11, 14 & 15 to move to 3-under for the round. Despite her lone bogey of the day on 17, she had built enough of a lead to cruise to victory on the homestretch.
“She really wanted this,” Cerulle said of Tygret. “From day one she’s had some meetings with the players, she’s pushed her team. You look at her interview yesterday with the Big West it was ‘I trust my team, it isn’t about me anymore, it’s about us doing this together.’ That’s been our biggest mantra this semester is everybody does their job and we’ll win, that won’t be a problem. And sure enough, that happened.”
“It’s awesome to win. Especially as a senior, this is my last event inside the Big West,” a smiling Tygret said after her victory. “Being here and doing it with my team especially, it’s more the team win that means something to me than the individual win.”
While Tygret was the standout for the Beach, it was a team effort to claim the program’s second consecutive Big West title. All five golfers finished in the Top 18 for the event, and stepped up at various times to make the difference. On Wednesday it was junior Euna Pak who delivered her best round of the week, posting a 3-over 75 to notch the second-best score for LBSU after Tygret’s 70. Pak was actually even par for most of the round and even dipped into the red with a birdie on 14, but dropped shots late with the Beach firmly in control of the team title race.
Senior Cara Barker and junior Holland Shourds each scored with 4-over rounds of 76 on Wednesday. Barker finished the tournament tied for sixth and Shourds was tied for 13th on the player leaderboard. Barker was an impressive 2-under on the back nine as she turned her day around to help the Beach seal the deal.
With the championship victory, the Beach will advance to the NCAA Division I women’s regionals which are held at the following sites: Saugahatchee Country Club, in Opelika, Alabama; Tumble Creek Golf Club in Cle Elum, Washington; Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma; and Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan, May 6-8. The selection show for regionals is on Wednesday, April 24 at 2:30 p.m. PT on the Golf Channel.
