Southern California claims team, individual titles

LOGAN — The 32nd annual Junior Girls Americas Cup golf tournament wrapped up Thursday at the Logan Golf & Country Club, with Southern California finishing first and Emily Tubert of the Southern California team taking home individual medalist honors.

Tubert finished one-under-par with a 212 for the tournament.

"To be able to play three rounds solid and have it be enough to take medalist is quite an honor, and the fact that my team was able to do so well was great," she said.

Southern California's only goal coming in was to win the tournament.

"If we didn't win, we were going to not be welcome back in California; there was a lot of pressure there," said Southern California team captain Paula Olsen.

Northern California finished second, and British Colombia placed third. Utah finished with a team total of 231 for the final round, finishing the tournament 13th out of 18 teams.

Having the tournament in their home state was a two-edged sword for the Utah squad, team member Nicole Gaddie said.

"We are used to the altitude and the grass, and we've played Logan a couple times before, so we kind of had an edge on everyone, but we definitely still felt pressure just because everything leading up to it was a lot more than we usually experience," Gaddie said.

Sirene Blair was Utah's top finisher at 15-over-par with a 288 that put her tied for 29th place.

"I started off really rough today," she said. "I didn't start off the way I wanted to, then I was able to come back, so that was nice."

Tara Green had Utah's second-best score, tied for 44th overall with a 236, and Courtney Smith finished tied for 60th with a 261. Gaddie shot a 76 on the third round to finish with a 245, moving her up five spots from the previous round to finish in 50th place.

"Today I just started off good, and I was having fun, which is the most important thing usually, and it started off well and I kept doing well," Gaddie said. "The girls I played with were so nice and so I didn't really get a chance to get down on myself I was having to much fun."

Even though Utah did not win, the tournament was still a success according to team captain Toni Guest, who said the team had a good attitude and was very supportive of each other.