REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Columbia women's golf first year
Kristina Xu took home the individual title at the season-opening Battle at the Creek. The three-round tournament took place Monday and Tuesday at Kings Creek Country Club.
A native of Claremont, California, Xu carded rounds of 72, 72 and 74 to win the 90-player event at 5-over-par 218. Her back-to-back 72s on Monday included a combined five birdies. Tuesday's final round was steady, with Xu carding 15 pars with just three bogeys. It was good enough for the best final round in the field, passing Sacred Heart's Jessie Burch and Bucknell's Joelle Johnson to pick up the victory.
Xu's victory is the first individual tournament win by a Lion since Jackie Chuyla tied for first at the 2015 Cardinal Cup. It's the first solo win for a Lion since Chuyla the season prior at the River Landing Classic.
Led by Xu's performance, the Lions finished the event in second place (+49). They battled back and forth with Bucknell (+47), seesawing between first and second all day long, but the Bison held off the Lions by two shots.
Sophomore
Sarah Shao (+9) tied for third in her season debut, following up on an excellent rookie campaign. Sophomore
Christine Chang (+18), who set the program's new single-season record for stroke average as a rookie, started strong with a tie for 17th. Columbia's second-place team was rounded out by
Emily Luo (+24) and
Yoko Tai (+27), who finished top 30 and top 40, respectively.
The Lions also had four more players make up their second team, which included first years
Bridget Chantharath and
Camille Thai, senior
Emma Shen and junior
Lauren Lee. Chantharath (+16) impressed in her collegiate debut to tie for 12th. Thai (+19) earned a top 20.
Columbia is back in action next Monday and Tuesday at the Red Bandanna Invitational. The tournament, hosted by Boston College, will be played at Blue Hill Country Club in Canton, Massachusetts.
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