LAS VEGAS – Long Beach State completed the wire-to-wire win in both the team and individual race for the title at the 2024 Big West Women’s Golf Championship at Spanish Trail Country Club.
The Beach had a three-shot advantage after a blustery Round 1, widened the gap to 10 with calmer wins and warmer temperatures on Monday and closed out the 54-hole event going away, besting three-time defending champion Cal Poly by 23 strokes. The margin of victory is the largest since 2015 when UC Davis finished 28 strokes ahead of their closest competitor.
LBSU was paced by back-to-back individual medalist Jasmine Leovao, who compiled a three-round score of 70-68-74—212 (-4) to also earn a wire-to-wire victory. Leovao punctuated the final round with a birdie on 18 to send the team into a cheering frenzy at center green.
With Leovao’s second crown in two tries, she stands as just the sixth repeat Big West medalist since the event began in 1987 and the first since Beth Allen went back-to-back for CSUN in 2003 and ’04. Interestingly, all six winners with multiple titles to their name also guided their team to the championship.
This is Long Beach State’s fourth Big West Championship with the most recent coming in back-to-back fashion in 2018 and ’19. With the title, LBSU earns entry into the regional field of the 2024 NCAA Division I Golf Championship. The six regional sites across the country include this week’s host Spanish Trail CC, with competition set to take place May 6-8. Teams and individuals will learn their regional destination on the Golf Channel next Wednesday, April 24, at 11 a.m.
Joining Leovao on the All-Tournament team are fellow Beach underclassmen Andee Avery and Janae Leovao who tied for third at 3-over 219 and Madison Le’s tie for eighth. Avery leapt up 10 spots on the board with the day’s low score, carding a 5-under 68.
Second place in the team standings went to Cal Poly, with redshirt junior Jensen Jalufka claiming runner-up status and graduate student Kaylee Sakoda closing the event in a three-way tie for fifth.
Cal State Fullerton was the biggest mover in the team standings in the final round of play, taking third as a team after overtaking UC Davis and UC Riverside in the last 18 from Las Vegas. The Big West’s highest-ranked golfer heading into the Championship, sophomore Davina Xanh used a final-round 69 to jump up six spots into the tie for fifth, and graduate student Gabby Minier finished knotted at eighth. The third-place finish ties the Titans’ best finish at the Big West Championship, matching their effort in 2012.
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Jasmine Leovao (Long Beach State)
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Jensen Jalufka (Cal Poly)
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Andee Avery (Long Beach State)
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Janae Laovao (Long Beach State)
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Madison Le (Long Beach State)
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Gabby Minier (Cal State Fullerton)
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Maleyna Gregorio (UC Riverside)
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- Top 5 finishers and ties are All-Tournament Team selections