Smith, Sherpa, Bleth guide Vaqueros to 2nd in first round of South Coast Classic

With practically an entire new lineup, SBCC opened its 2019 women's golf season on Sunday by placing second in the first round of the South Coast Classic women's golf tournament at Olivas Links GC in Ventura.

Alexa Bleth, a sixth-place state finisher on last year's Vaquero squad that took fourth in the state, is the only returning sophomore.

Melanie Smith, a freshman from El Paso, Texas, led the Vaqueros with an 80 and she's in sixth place. Pratima Sherpa, the Vaqueros' No. 1 player and the first ranked amateur female golfer from Nepal, is seventh after shooting 81 in her college debut. Bleth is tied for eighth at 82.

Defending state champion Canyons leads the eight-team field with a sizzling 306 (76.5 average). The Vaqueros are second at 333, one stroke ahead of College of the Desert. Mt. San Antonio is fourth at 342.

Canyons returns three of its top players from last year's state champions. Paige Heuer leads the 36-hole South Coast Classic at 1-under 71, teammate Haruka Koda is one shot back at 72 and Lilyanna Rodriguez of Desert is third at 76.

"We played OK," said Chuck Melendez, who's starting his 20th season as coach of the Vaquero women's and men's golf teams. "We're all new except for Alexa. It seems to be typical of my teams … we have it going for a while, then we give a lot of strokes back on the back nine. Our short game and putting cost us today.

"What I liked about Melanie shooting 80 was she felt it could have been a lot better. Pratima was very nervous but played very well on her first nine holes."

Canyons also took WSC No. 1, shooting 306 to beat the Vaqueros by 27 shots. Antelope Valley was a distant third at 417. The Cougars took the top three spots with Heuer recording a 1-under 71, Koda an even-par 72 and Jessie Lin 79. SBCC placed fourth, fifth and sixth with Smith shooting 80, Sherpa 81 and Bleth 82.

The final round of the South Coast Classic and WSC No. 2 will be held Monday at Buenaventura GC with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
 
South Coast Classic
At par-72 Olivas Links GC
First round
 Team -- 1, Canyons 306. 2, SBCC 333. 3, Desert 334. 4, Mt. SAC 342. 5, Palomar 408. 6, Antelope Valley 417. 7, Citrus 484. 8, Bakersfield 485. 9, Moorpark, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1, Paige Heuer, Canyons, 71. 2, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 72. 3, Lilyanna Rodriguez, Desert, 76. 4, Kathy Henderson, Palomar, 77. 5, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 79. 6, Melanie Smith, SBCC, 80. 7, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 81.
 SBCC scores -- 6, Melanie Smith 80. 7, Pratima Sherpa 81. 8 (tie), Alexa Bleth 82. 17, Cally Casterline 90. Marie Naud 94, Honey Lawrie 98.
 SBCC record -- 6-1 overall.

WSC No. 1
At par-72 Olivas Links GC
 Team -- 1, Canyons 306. 2, SBCC 333. 3, Antelope Valley 417. 4, Citrus 484. 5, Bakersfield 485. 6, Moorpark, no score.
 Medalist -- 1, Paige Heuer, Canyons, 71. 2, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 72. 3, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 79. 4, Melanie Smith, SBCC, 80. 5, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 81. 6, Alexa Bleth, SBCC, 82.
 SBCC scores -- 4, Smith 80. 5, Sherpa 81. 6, Bleth 82. 8, Casterline 90. 10 (tie), Naud 94. 13, Lawrie 98.
 WSC standings -- 1, Canyons 5-0. 2, SBCC 4-1. 3, Antelope Valley 3-2. 4, Citrus 2-3. 5, Bakersfield 1-4. 6, Moorpark 0-5.