Watkins shoots 1-under 71; Vaqueros take lead in North-South

Vanessa Watkins fired a 1-under 71 on Sunday, leading SBCC to the first-round lead in the North-South Invitational women's golf tournament at Morro Bay Golf Course.

Watkins, a sophomore from Arroyo Grande, is in second place in the 16-school tourney. Aman Sangha of Canada is the leader at 4-under 68.

The Vaqueros shot 313 to take a 16-stroke lead over defending state champion Sierra. Modesto is third at 346 and Canyons is fourth at 353.

Sierra edged the Vaqueros by eight strokes for last year's state title on the same Morro Bay course. SBCC is 27-1 this year with its only loss coming to Sierra at the South Coast Classic.

Stephanie Farouze added a 78 for SBCC and Lauren Calvin shot 81.

"Vanessa played excellent today," said coach Chuck Melendez. "She's been working extremely hard and she's very focused. We played well but I know we can go lower tomorrow."

The Vaqueros will shoot for their third straight North-South title in Monday's final round with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
  
North-South Invitational
At par-72 Morro Bay GC
First round
 Team -- 1, SBCC 313. 2, Sierra 329. 3, Modesto 346. 4, Canyons 353. 5, Desert 355. 6, Irvine Valley 358. 7, Moorpark 361. 8, Canada 362. 9, Citrus 363. 10, Mt. SAC 374. 11 (tie), Antelope Valley 378, San Joaquin Delta 78. 13, Mt. San Jacinto 379. 14, Bakersfield 391. 15, American River 407.
 Medalist -- 1, Aman Sangha, Canada, 68. 2, Vanessa Watkins, SBCC, 71. 3, Lichi Liu, Desert, 74. 4, Nao Bando, Sierra, 75.
 SBCC scores – 2, Watson 71, Stephanie Farouze 78, Lauren Calvin 81, Elly Carlson 83, Jessica Safford 91, Elle Gaston 91.