Huskies, Kim Win Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
October 08, 2014 | Women's Golf
SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Washington got their season started with a dominant win at their home tournament, The Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. The Dawgs finished the fog shortened 36-hole tournament at 5-under 571 to win by 19 strokes.
Stanford finished as the tournament runner-up, but was well back at 14-over 590. The Cardinal came into the season with a No. 1 ranking, giving the Dawgs a nice early season victory over a top team. UC Davis finished third at 22-over, while Gonzaga and Colorado rounded out the top five.
“I was really proud of our team this week,” said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “Stanford is a highly ranked team, so the beat them and beat them handily is a really good win for us.”
Senior SooBin Kim picked up individual medalist honors, finishing the week at 8-under 136 to win by nine strokes. Kim was the only player under par for the week and the only player to score in the 60's, something she did both days. Kim followed up her opening 69 with a 5-under 67 in the final round. She made five birdies and no bogeys on the day to win her second Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational title.
“I watched pretty much all of her back nine,” said Mulflur. “She easily could have made two or three more birdies. She was just striping it, hitting it within 10 feet probably six times.”
Kim also won the Edean back in 2012 when she was 11-under for 54-holes. The win was the fourth of Kim's collegiate career, tying Kelli Kamimura and Patti Marquis for the all-time Husky record.
“I'd put SooBin in the top three of all-time players at Washington,” said Mulflur. “By the end of the season, she might be in the top one.”
Kim was not the only Dawg to play well, however. Washington had seven players entered in the tournament and all seven finished in the top-10 with ties.
“To have seven at the top of the leaderboard is just crazy,” said Mulflur. “It's definitely a testament to our depth.”
Finishing in a tie for second were senior Jennifer Yang and sophomore Eimi Koga. Yang was playing as an individual, but was steady as usual with a 2-over 74 after opening with a 71. Koga had her best-ever finish as a Husky, also placing tied for second at 1-over 145. Koga followed up her opening round 71 by also finishing with a 2-over 74.
Just one stroke back of Yang and Koga was Charlotte Thomas who finished tied for fourth. Thomas matched her opening round 73 with another 1-over 73 on Wednesday. She made two birdies and three bogeys for her final round.
The final three Huskies tied for eighth at 3-over 147 for the tournament. Ying Luo, also playing as an individual had the best round of the day outside of Kim, shooting a round of 2-under 73 to climb into the top-10. Freshman Jing Yan also bounced back after a 75 to open play with a round of even-par 72. Finally, Cyd Okino finished with a round of 3-over 75 to also finish at 3-over for the tournament.
The Dawgs will now turn their attention to the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational hosted by Seattle U. The tournament begins Monday, Oct. 13 with 36 holes and concludes on Tuesday, Oct. 14 with an 18-hole final round.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Pat,” said Mulflur. “She played college golf back when women weren't playing and won just about everything. I am happy to be attending a tournament named in her honor.”
Players Mentioned
