University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Sunday, April 21
Boulder City, Nevada
University of Northern Colorado
at
2019 Big Sky Conference Championship Day 3
Beah Cruz wins Big Sky Individual Title
4/21/2019 6:24:00 PM | Women's Golf
UNC women's golfer Beah Cruz wins Big Sky Individual title in a playoff
BOULDER CITY, Nev. — Beah Cruz became the third Northern Colorado women's golfer to win the Big Sky Individual Championship on Sunday by defeating Sacramento State's Corrinne Viden on the first hole of the playoff. Cruz joins former Bears Ali Nelson (2009) and Carleigh Silvers (2012) as Big Sky Individual champions.
As a team, UNC earned its best finish since 2013 by taking third place shooting a final round 292 and an overall score of 891. The 292 was the best of the weekend for the team. Sacramento State won the team title with an 867.
Cruz began the day with a two-stroke lead atop the leaderboard but saw it quickly disappear as she had three bogeys on the front nine. She erased one of them on the front with a birdie on the third hole. On the back nine, Cruz settled down and recorded a par on eight of the nine holes. The one she didn't par was the 531 yard par 5 13th, in which she birdied.
Viden forced the playoff with Cruz by birding the 18th hole while Cruz made par. Back on the 18th hole tee box again, Cruz was able to reach the green in two shots compared to Viden's three. A nice lag putt from Cruz gave her an easy two-putt par to clinch the individual title.
The top 5 finishes by Cruz and Hisaki earned them All-Tournament team honors.
Morgan Sahm finished in a tie for 31st (230), Nicole Polivchak tied for 34th (232) and Jenna Chun tied for 40th (238).
UNC's 2018-19 season comes to an end with them earning six top 10 team finishes and six individual top 10s.
Portie's Perspective
It was a great week for the Bears as we played our best today as a team and kept our third place finish. We played better on our front 9, which lead to some momentum playing the back 9. Beah and Marisa played exceptional all week, as two top 5 finishes are great individual performances. Beah was clutch under pressure coming through in a playoff and made some great putts coming in, to be in the playoff. She was very calm in that situation and winning the Big Sky Conference Championship, individually, is a big deal and will help her have even more confidence going forward in her career. She has the perfect temperament to be the champion that she is! I am very proud of this team and all of their hard work this year!
Gallery: (4/21/2019) Big Sky Championship Day 3
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's golf, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNC_Bears_Golf.
As a team, UNC earned its best finish since 2013 by taking third place shooting a final round 292 and an overall score of 891. The 292 was the best of the weekend for the team. Sacramento State won the team title with an 867.
Cruz began the day with a two-stroke lead atop the leaderboard but saw it quickly disappear as she had three bogeys on the front nine. She erased one of them on the front with a birdie on the third hole. On the back nine, Cruz settled down and recorded a par on eight of the nine holes. The one she didn't par was the 531 yard par 5 13th, in which she birdied.
Viden forced the playoff with Cruz by birding the 18th hole while Cruz made par. Back on the 18th hole tee box again, Cruz was able to reach the green in two shots compared to Viden's three. A nice lag putt from Cruz gave her an easy two-putt par to clinch the individual title.
Teammate Marisa Hisaki joined Cruz finishing in the top 5. Hisaki shot a final round even-par 72 and finishing the tournament with 2-over, 218 for a tie for fifth. She closed out the tournament strong with birdies on the 13th, 15th and 16th hole to shoot a 2-under 34 on the back nine.Congrats to @UNC_Bears Beah Cruz the 2019 Big Sky Women's Golf Individual Player of the Year winning via playoff @UNC_Bears_Golf #BigSkyGolf pic.twitter.com/yYiVFcjQXn
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) April 21, 2019
The top 5 finishes by Cruz and Hisaki earned them All-Tournament team honors.
| Name (Place) | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Northern Colorado (3) | 299 | 300 | 292 | 891 |
| Beah Cruz (1) | 69 | 73 | 73 | 215 |
| Marisa Hisaki (T5) | 73 | 73 | 72 | 218 |
| Morgan Sahm (T31) | 80 | 76 | 74 | 230 |
| Nicole Polivchak (T34) | 81 | 78 | 73 | 232 |
| Jenna Chun (T40) | 77 | 82 | 79 | 238 |
Morgan Sahm finished in a tie for 31st (230), Nicole Polivchak tied for 34th (232) and Jenna Chun tied for 40th (238).
UNC's 2018-19 season comes to an end with them earning six top 10 team finishes and six individual top 10s.
Portie's Perspective
It was a great week for the Bears as we played our best today as a team and kept our third place finish. We played better on our front 9, which lead to some momentum playing the back 9. Beah and Marisa played exceptional all week, as two top 5 finishes are great individual performances. Beah was clutch under pressure coming through in a playoff and made some great putts coming in, to be in the playoff. She was very calm in that situation and winning the Big Sky Conference Championship, individually, is a big deal and will help her have even more confidence going forward in her career. She has the perfect temperament to be the champion that she is! I am very proud of this team and all of their hard work this year!
Congrats to @UNC_Bears_Golf Beah Cruz the 2019 #BigSkyGolf Women's Individual Champion. Hear what she had to say about the win! @UNC_Bears pic.twitter.com/CBTI7f47FI
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) April 22, 2019
To stay up to date on all things UNC women's golf, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNC_Bears_Golf.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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