Soldwisch in the Hunt, CSUN Fifth Heading Into Final Round of Big West Women's Golf Championship

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Junior Gracie Piar fired a 2-under 70 in the second round as the CSUN Women's Golf team posted a six-shot improvement from round one to round two but slipped to fifth after 36 holes of the Big West Women's Golf Championship Monday at Spanish Trail Country Club.

Freshman Ariya Soldwisch remained in the chase for the individual championship after carding a 1-over 73 to sit sixth at even-par 144. Soldwisch heads into the final round just four shots off the pace set by Cal State Fullerton's Kaitlyn Zermeno Smith. After opening with a team round of 12-over 300 on Sunday, the Matadors finished round two at 6-over 294 and are fifth in the nine-team championship field at +18, 594.

Tournament: Big West Women's Golf Championship
Dates: Apr. 13-15, 2025
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Course: Spanish Trail Country Club (par-72)
CSUN Place: 5th out of 9 teams (300-294--594, +18)
Team Leader: Cal State Fullerton (291-283--574, -2)
Individual Leader: Kaitlyn Zermeno Smith, Cal State Fullerton (75-65--140, -4)

CSUN SCORES

After carding five birdies, two bogeys, and one double bogey in a round one 71, Soldwisch had two birdies on Monday both coming on the back nine. With seven pars and two bogeys on the front nine, she birdied two of her first five holes on the back nine to get back to even-par. She remained at even par until a bogey on her final hole closed out a 1-over round of 73.
Piar posted her best-ever round in her third Big West Championship, carding five birdies and three bogeys in a round of 2-under 70. After three birdies on the front nine, she made the turn at 2-under. Two birdies and four pars over her first six holes on the back nine moved her to 4-under on the day. Two bogeys on her final three holes ended her day at 2-under 70 which vaulted her 20 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 15th at +5, 149.
Junior Kim Turgut posted her second consecutive round of 3-over 75, which included 16 pars and three bogeys. She is currently tied for 20th at 6-over 150.
Sophomore Nicole Tanoue, who opened the day tied with Turgut in 13th place, had 14 pars and four bogeys in round two to finish the day at 4-over 76. With rounds of 75-76, Tanoue is currently tied for 23rd at 7-over 151.
Sophomore Meghan Paracuelles rounded out the CSUN scoring on day two, following up a 12-over 84 in round one with a 14-over 86 in round two. Paracuelles is 43rd at 26-over 170.

TEAM SCOREBOARD
1. Cal State Fullerton 291-283--574 (-2); 2. Long Beach State 298-286--584 (+8); 3. UC Irvine 303-286--584 (+13); 4. UC Davis 294-298--592 (+16); 5. CSUN 300-294--594 (+18); 5. Cal Poly 306-288--594 (+18); 7.UC Riverside 303-300--603 (+27); 8. Hawai'i 310-301--611 (+35); 9. Cal State Bakersfield 315-311--626 (+50).

HEAD COACH MICHELLE WINKLER SAID
"After round one, I know Gracie was disappointed. She put in a lot of time on the putting green after the round, and it showed today. She came out in "demolition mode" today and did her job. She was scrambling her last three holes, but you better believe she's on the hunt for another low round tomorrow!

"Ariya had another great round, just got a little unlucky at the end. We have a solid game plan, but we need more putts to drop tomorrow. I'm so confident Ariya can make a move, but no matter what, I'm so proud of this team and what we've done this year!"

UP NEXT
The Matadors will be paired with UC Davis and Cal Poly for Tuesday's final round, which gets underway at 8 a.m. off split tees (No. 1 and No. 10). CSUN will tee off at No. 1 with Paracuelles the first Matador going off at 8 a.m.

#GoMatadors

Soldwisch in the Hunt, CSUN Fifth Heading Into Final Round of Big West Women's Golf Championship

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Players Mentioned

Meghan Paracuelles

Gracie Piar

Ariya Soldwisch

Nicole Tanoue

Kim Turgut