News

Weber’s Kelsey Chugg Is Medalist at Lumberjack Tournament at Ocotillo

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Kelsey Chugg shot a two-under-par 70 in the final round of the Lumberjack at Ocotillo tournament to rally six spots for individual medalist honors, while leading the Weber State women’s golf team to third place in the team standings Saturday.Chugg opened the tournament with rounds of 79 and 76 to sit in seventh place entering the final round. Her final-day 70 left her with a tournament total of 225.”I started out kind of slow today,” said Chugg. “On the back nine, I started hitting my irons really well, and started to make some putts. As a team, we kind of struggled the first day, but we played better and better as the tournament went on.”As a team, the Wildcats improved each day of the 54-hole tournament, and finished with a team-total of 949. McNeese State won the team title, shooting 914 for a 27-shot win over Northern Arizona, which shot 941.”For our first time out this season, I thought we played really solid golf,” said team captain Sara Federico. “We come back here two more times this year, including the (Big Sky) conference tournament, so playing this well here is a big confidence boost for us.”McNeese placed two players in a three-way tie for second in the individual standings. Kelsey Haynie and Lina Lagergren joined Southern Utah’s Sadie Palmer, just two shots back of Chugg.Weber State’s Amanda Snyder entered the final round in a tie for third overall after rounds of 78 and 74, but slipped a but with a closing 79 to finish sixth overall, giving the Wildcats two players in the top-10.Sara Federico (249, T-33rd), Alli Cluff (250, T-35th), and Carly Oldroyd (272, T-55th) rounded out the Wildcats’ scoring team.Kristie Jensen had an outstanding tournament for the Wildcats as an individual, shooting a total of 244 to tie for 20th place overall, while Courtney Smith-Saffell (261, T-49th) also competed for Weber State as an individual.”We’re pretty jazzed with the way we played this week,” said WSU Director of Golf Jeff Smith. “They set this tournament up very tough, a lot tougher than we usually see at the conference tournament, so I’m very pleased with the scores the girls were able to shoot. They played some great golf this week, but there’s still room for improvement, so we’re excited about our season going forward.”