SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly junior Stephanie Yocum captured the Big West Conference women’s individual championship Tuesday afternoon at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.
Yocum matched par 72 on the 6,168-yard, par-72 course, then waited for 10 more groups to finish before she could claim her second collegiate individual title.
Yocum finished with a nine-over 225 total, three strokes ahead of four golfers who shared second place – Jane Chin and Patty Chawalitmetha of UC Irvine, Chelsea Stelzmiller of UC Davis and Lee Lopez of Long Beach State.
Meanwhile, sophomore Austin Graham of UC Davis defeated Aggie teammate Ramie Sprinkling, a senior, on the first playoff hole to win the Big West men’s individual championship.
Graham and Sprinkling both finished with three-under-par 213 totals. Graham carded a final-round 69 while Sprinkling had a 70. Graham’s second shot on the 18th hole rolled back to within two feet of the cup and he sank the birdie putt to win the playoff against Sprinkling, who settled for a bogey after his second shot landed in a sand trap.
Graham led the tournament with 15 birdies while Sprinkling topped the field in par-5 scoring at minus-10. They led UC Davis to a seven-point team victory over UC Irvine and Pacific.
Yocum was the lone woman golfer to post par. Chin carded a one-under-par 71 and rose from 10th place into the four-way tie for second place. Yocum, who led the tournament in par-3 scoring at minus-2, carded five birdies and five bogeys in her final round Tuesday.
Long Beach State captured the team championship by one stroke over both UC Irvine and UC Davis. The 49ers compiled a 65-over-par 929 total while the Anteaters and Aggies shot 930. Cal Poly finished fourth with a 945 total following its final-round 304 total.
Mustang senior Hannah Brabb shot 75 and climbed five positions into a tie for seventh place with her 233 total. Maddy Fletcher shot an 82 for a 238 total, tied for 15th place, while Elsie Walker finished 28th with a final-round 79 and a 253 total.
Julia Heath was 29th with a final-round 78 and a 255 total.
Brabb and Yocum led the field with eight birdies each.
Yocum, whose only other collegiate victory came in the 2008 Lady Braveheart Classic hosted by UC Riverside, birdied the 17th hole, then made an incredible bunker save on the 18th hole as her shot landed within a foot of the cup.
"That was pretty unbelievable," Cal Poly head coach Scott Cartwright said of Yocum's performance in the conference finals. "She played very solid. I wasn't real sure where she was on the leaderboard during the round, but I saw her make a couple birdies and a few three-putts.
"She mostly just held it together when things weren't going so well," Cartwright added. "As fast and firm as the greens were, she just hung in there very well."
Yocum's round of 72 is her career best, her second round of par or better in her Mustang career -- she shot a 73 as a freshman in the Firestone Grill Cal Poly Invitational in 2006 -- and she moved to the top on Cal Poly's career scoring average list at 78.30.
On the men’s side, Graham and Sprinkling finished one stroke ahead of four golfers who shared third place -- Scott Clayton and Andrew Patipaksiril of UC Riverside, T.J. Bordeaux of Pacific and Michael Im of UC Irvine. Graham and Bordeaux both carded 69s Tuesday.
Cal Poly’s top finisher was junior Geoff Gonzalez, who shot a final-round 75 for an even-par 216 total and ninth place. He was the lone Mustang to finish in the top 20.
Senior Colin Peck placed 24th with a final-round 75 and a 225 total; Jarod Knight was 28th after a final-round 72 for a 227 total; and Bryce Greeley shot a 72 and finished 32nd with a 229 total.
Bryan Pierce claimed 38th place with a final-round 79 and a 236 total.
John Chin, last year’s Big West men’s champion, finished 14th with rounds of 74, 71 and 74 for a three-over-par 219 total.
The men posted 11 eagles -- two each by Sprinkling, Clint Oleson of Cal State Northridge and Tm Lo of UC Riverside -- while no golfer on the women’s side carded an eagle.
UC Davis carded a final-round 284 for a three-under-par 861 total, seven shots ahead of UC Irvine, which had a final-round 289, and Pacific, with a final-round 286. Cal Poly placed seventh in the eight-team field with an 895 total.
UC Irvine had won the last two Big West men’s team titles and four straight women’s crowns.
The Big West Conference Championships had been held at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Mission Viejo the last five years.
Post-season conference awards were presented following the final round. For Cal Poly, Gonzalez was named to the first team and Knight to the second unit. On the women’s side, Yocum landed a spot on the all-conference first team and Brabb was named to the second squad.
The NCAA regionals for men will be held at six sites, including the Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, on May 14-16 with the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship slated for May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
The regionals for women will be held at three sites, including the West Regional at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., from May 7-9, with the four-day NCAA Women’s Golf Championship scheduled for May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owing Mills, Maryland.
2009 All-Big West Conference Awards
Men
First Team
Ramie Sprinkling, UC Davis
Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly
Nick Delio, Cal State Northridge
Nate Pistaccio, UC Davis
Austin Graham, UC Davis
Second Team
Sean Shahi, UC Irvine
Michael Drake, Long Beach State
Erik Jarvey, Cal State Northridge
Scott Clayton, UC Riverside
Jarod Knight, Cal Poly
Coach of the Year
Cy Williams (UC Davis)
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Kevin Lim (Long Beach State)
and Roberto Francioni (UC Irvine)
Player of the Year
John Chin (UC Irvine)
Women
First Team
Stephanie Yocum, Cal Poly
Jennifer Bermingham, UC Riverside
Alice Kim, UC Davis
Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis
Kay Hoey, Long Beach State
Lee Lopez, Long Beach State
Second Team
Joy Trotter, UC Irvine
Patty Chawalitmetha, UC Irvine
Hilary Packard, UC Irvine
Hannah Brabb, Cal Poly
Coach of the Year
Sue Ewart (Long Beach State)
Freshman of the Year
Lee Lopez (Long Beach State)
Player of the Year
Jane Chin (UC Irvine)
