University of Washington
Pac-12 Championships
Thomas Ties for Fifth at Pac-12s; UW Places Sixth
April 20, 2016 | Women's Golf
PLEASANTON, Calif. – University of Washington senior Charlotte Thomas saved her best Pac-12 Championship finish for last as she placed tied for fifth after carding a 54-hole total of 6-under 210 (75-67-68). She helped lead the 13th-ranked Dawgs to a sixth place finish as Washington posted its best round of the week on Wednesday to finish at 2-over 866 (289-292-285).
With her top five effort, Thomas carded the Huskies best showing at the Pac-12 Championships since Paige Mackenzie won it all in 2006. Additionally, it is the fifth top-five finish by a Dawg at the annual league tournament and marks Thomas' 24th-career top 10 finish, tying the UW school record, set by Mackenzie.
The senior's third round featured six birdies, her most over 18 holes during the three-day event. After knocking in one on her second hole of the day, Thomas had an error on her fourth to pull back to even but following that, she stayed under par en route to her final round score of 4-under 68, which was the second-best round of the day.
Thomas climbed eight spots up the leaderboard Wednesday to post her third top-five finish this season and she carded back-to-back sub-70 rounds for the first time this year. Her previous best finish at the Pac-12 Tournament was a 13th-place tie last season.
“Charlotte played as well as anybody in the field the last two days, posting the second best and third best rounds of the day and having just two bogeys in 36 holes is very impressive,” said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “It was a great way for her to finish her Pac-12 career and she's got two more events to go but this was impressive in a tough field to finish tied for fifth.”
Freshman Wenyung Keh also carded her best round of the tournament on the third day to move nine spots up into a tie for 20th. Keh finished her last 18 holes at 1-under 71 to put her final scorecard at 1-over 217 (72-74-71).
“Wenyung didn't putt that well this week but she's such a steady player and is so rock solid and has really had a nice year so far, so it was a good first conference tournament for her,” added Mulflur.
Senior Ying Luo notched a top 25 effort finishing at 2-over 218 (68-74-68), tying for 23rd. Luo has only finished out of the top 25 once this season in 12 events.
“There's no quit in Ying and you really have to appreciate her effort,” said Mulflur. “It's a testament to her leadership and her drive that she's only had one finish under the top 25 this year. She's a very motivated young woman and takes a lot of pride in what she does. Her growth after coming in as a walk-on as a freshman to really making herself a great player has been a pleasure to watch.”
Freshman Julianne Alvarez's third-round score of 1-over 73 helped her jump four spots to finish tied for 45th at 8-over 224 (74-77-73). She stayed even through the front nine and birdied her 10th hole but two errors on her 12th and 16th pushed her to 1-over. Seattle native Sarah Rhee tied for 48th, moving up three notches on the leaderboard Wednesday with her overall score of 9-over 225 (75-77-73).
Washington's three-under 285 over the final 18 holes was the third best round of the day and helped the Dawgs climb to sixth overall. USC won the team title with hits 18-under 846 while UCLA came in second at 15-under 849 and Arizona State was third at 13-under 851. Arizona State's Linnea Strom claimed the individual crown finishing with the lowest 54-hole individual total in Pac-12 Championship history (11-under 205).
“The last 27 holes as a team were very solid,” said Mulflur. “It should give us a little momentum and then once we figure out where we are headed, I believe we'll definitely get some good work in these next 10 days. I think we've gotten our confidence back up a little bit. We're a good team and the results throughout the year have shown that so there's no reason we won't head into the regionals with confidence.”
UW will now await their fate for the NCAA Regionals that will be announced on Monday on the Golf Channel during 'Golf Central' at 3 p.m. PT. The Dawgs will be sent to one of three sites hosting this season, Stanford Golf Course, Traditions Club (Bryan, Texas), University Club (Baton Rouge, La.) or Shoal Creek Club (Shoal Creek, Ala.) from May 5-7.
UW Results
T5. Charlotte Thomas, -6, 210 (75-67-68)
T20. Wenyung Keh, +1, 217 (72-74-71)
T23. Ying Luo, +2, 218 (68-74-76)
T45. Julianne Alvarez, +8, 224 (74-77-73)
T48. Sarah Rhee, +9, 225 (75-77-73)
Players Mentioned
