Farouze, Vaqueros finish 4th in prestigious North-South Invitational

Stephanie Farouze shot 78 on Monday and SBCC turned in its second-best score of the year to claim fourth in the 14-team North-South Invitational women's golf tournament at Morro Bay Golf Course.

The 36-hole event attracted most of the top teams in the state to Morro Bay GC, will also host the site of the State Championships on Nov. 11-12.

Farouze finished with a 77 and 78 for a 155 that tied her for fourth with Tammy Lim of Fresno City. Farouze, who took sixth last year, made the all-tournament team for the second straight year. Gurman Kaur of Sierra fired a 2-over-par 74 and topped a field of 82 players at 3-over 147. Katie Stribling of Irvine Valley was second at 151 (76-75).

"I was very happy with Stephanie's play," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "She's been working really hard on getting up-and-down (around the greens). That's a very important part of the game and it's starting to click for her."

Canyons improved by 10 strokes and won the team title by 20 shots over Desert. The Cougars shot 320-310--630 and the Roadrunners posted two rounds of 325 for a 650 total. Sierra was third at 659 and the Vaqueros took fourth at 666.

Santa Barbara (28-8) shaved eight strokes off its first-round score and shot its second-best score of the year (329). Corina Garcia and Lauren Calvin both shot 83 on Monday with Garcia finishing at 168 and Calvin shooting 169. Kayla Karst, the Vaqueros' fifth player, improved her score by 10 strokes (88 after a first-round 98).

"The course played tough today," added Melendez. "There were some nasty pins that led to a lot of three-putts.

"Kayla is starting to get her game back and she's gaining confidence. This group probably enjoys the game more than any group I've had."

The Vaqueros will play in WSC No. 4 on Monday, hosted by Citrus at San Dimas GC.
 
North-South Invitational
At par-72 Morro Bay GC
Final scores
 16 schools (14 scoring teams) -- 1, Canyons 320-310--630. 2, Desert 325-325--650. 3, Sierra 326-333--659. 4, SBCC 337-329--666. 5, Reedley 343-340--683. 6, Modesto 350-347--697. 7, Fresno City 359-361--720. 8, Napa Valley 367-362--729. 9, Mt. SAC 365-368--733. 10, San Joaquin Delta 378-379--757. 11, Bakersfield 400-372--772. 12, Moorpark 406-379--785. 13, Citrus 398-389--787. 14, American River 426-396--822.
 Medalist -- 1, Gurman Kaur, Sierra, 73-74--147. 2, Katie Stribling, Irvine Valley, 76-75--151. 3, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 79-75--154. 4 (tie), Stephanie Farouze, SBCC, 77-78--155; Tammy Lim, Fresno City, 78-77--155.
 SBCC scores -- 4 (tie), Farouze 77-78--155, Corina Garcia 85-83--168, Lauren Calvin 86-83--169, Alexa Bleth 89-85--174, Kayla Karst 98-88--186, Juliet Parsons 97-97--194.
 SBCC overall record -- 28-8.