Vaqueros grab first-round lead in North-South Invitational

Carolin Chang and Vanessa Watkins shot 3-over 75s on Sunday to lead SBCC to first place after one round of the North-South Invitational women's golf tournament at Morro Bay Golf Course.

The defending state champion Vaqueros totaled 311 on the course where they won last year's State championship. Sierra is 10 shots back in second and Modesto is third at 333. The 14-team field features the top teams in California and they're playing on the same course that will host this year's State Championships on Nov. 13-14.

Danielle Picard shot a season-low 78 for the Vaqueros and Savanah Boss tied her season best of 83. Nao Bando of Sierra was the medalist at 2-under 70. Chang and Watkins are tied for third. Watkins played golf for Arroyo Grande High, which is 28 miles southeast of Morro Bay.

"Slowly but surely, we're getting more consistent," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "We got great scores from Danielle and Vanessa, who's from this area.

"This is a great group, they all get along, they're very intelligent and they always do the right thing."

The Vaqueros shot 11 strokes better than their first-round score in last year's State Championships. They ended up at 655, beating Citrus by 17 shots for their fourth state crown in the last 10 years.

The final round will be played Monday at Morro Bay GC with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

North-South Invitational
At par-72 Morro Bay GC
First round
 Team – 1, SBCC 311. 2, Sierra 321. 3, Modesto 333. 4, Fresno 340. 5, Reedley 348. 6, Mt. SAC 366. 7, Citrus 375. 8, Desert 378. 9, San Joaquin Delta 381. 10, Irvine Valley 384. 11, Sacramento City 392. 12, Bakersfield 393. 13, American River 400. 14, Canada 401.
 Medalist – 1, Nao Bando, Sierra, 70. 2, Aman Sangha, Canada, 72. 3 (tie), Carolin Chang, SBCC; Vanessa Watkins, SBCC; Araceli Esquivel, IVC, 75.
 SBCC scores – 3 (tie), Chang, Watkins 75. Danielle Picard 78, Savanah Boss 83, Daniela Ruffo 94, Corina Garcia 94.