Women’s golf looks for another strong finish at SCIAC Championships

ORANGE, Calif. – The regular season comes to a close as the Chapman University women's golf team tees it up for three more rounds at the SCIAC Championships on April 18-20. The championship tournament moves to Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena, Calif. for 2019.

Chapman enters the final three rounds of the season in fifth place in a stacked SCIAC field. The SCIAC is one of the toughest conferences in the nation with six of the top-30 teams in Division III, according to Golfstat. The Panthers check in at No. 22 in the Golfstat rankings – the fourth-highest in the conference.

Senior Emily Lewis has helped establish the Panther program over its first three years. She was an All-SCIAC selection in each of her two first seasons and the Panthers' top finish at both previous championships. She will look for another top-10 finish at the 2019 SCIAC Championships to close out her career. As the No. 17-ranked golfer in all of Division III, a strong finish could put Lewis in position for an individual bid to the NCAA Championships next month.

Sophomore Lauren Settle was an All-SCIAC selection a year ago as a freshman and will look to remain near the top of the leaderboard in her sophomore season. Both Settle and Lewis are averaging sub-80 rounds in 2018-19. Lewis leads the squad with a 76.3 stroke average while Settle is averaging 79.4 strokes per round.

Freshman Kristen Lee's first-year average sits right at 80 after a strong finish in SCIAC #2. Her last round was her best round of the season and she will look to ride that momentum into the three-round championship as the Panthers look to move up the league standings.

Chapman trails Cal Lutheran for fourth by just five strokes entering the SCIAC Championships but leads Whittier by a slim margin of 14 strokes for fifth.

Senior Marisa Bhanubandh has stayed in the low-80s over her last five rounds and can give the Panthers a boost with another solid tournament. She shot a 75 (+3) in the middle round of last year's championship to help the Panthers finish in second in the tournament and take third in the standings in just the second season in program history.

The newest Chapman program is putting up its best numbers in its three-year history with a 318 team average per round. The Panthers finished SCIAC #2 with a 307 – its best team score of the season.

Freshman Sydnee Dimascio and sophomore Brooke Leet will finish out the Panthers lineup for the championship tournament with both getting their first taste of the SCIAC Championships.

Play begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday and will continue through Saturday. Admission for adults is $10 per day and $5 for seniors and military.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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