Fresno State
WAC Championships
WAC Champ!
4/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 21, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - Most golfers competing for a tournament title who take a quadruple bogey on the third hole of the final round might crumble under such pressure. But Bulldog senior Hali Coppin is not like most golfers. Coppin rebounded from an 8 on the Par 4 third hole, and scrambled back with four birdies over her last 10 holes to claim the 2010 WAC championship at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.
Coppin (74-74-73-221) made 29 putts in the round and overcame a disastrous hole early in the round to shoot the lowest round of the day. She drew from her first WAC tournament appearance as a freshman, when she had a similar experience with an 8 early in the round. She was able to put it out of her mind and played well the rest of the round.
While on the course at Arizona, she told herself she needed to do that again. She followed that hole with four straight pars which calmed her nerves, then made a birdie on No. 9. Coppin made three more birdies over her final nine holes and shot a 73 to finish the tournament with a 221, two strokes better than Kalli Britos of Hawaii.
Coppin took her score to the clubhouse and had to wait for the rest of the leaders to finish the round before learning she won the tournament. She admitted she wasn't sure if a 221 was going to be low enough even though she had a two-shot lead on the field when she left the 18th green.
"I wasn't sure," Coppin said following her round. "I really didn't know what to think. I was kind of walking in circles waiting to see what would happen. I heard the Hawaii player made a birdie on No. 17 and 18 is a par five so I went to the range (in case there was to be a playoff). But when she made a par on 18, my teammates came running and yelling. It was pretty exciting."
Coppin birdied both par 5's on the back nine and finished with 10 birdies in the tournament. She also eagled the par 4 eighth hole in Tuesday's second round.
She is the second Bulldog in the last three seasons to win the WAC title, joining 2008 winner Laura Luethke, who won the crown at Fresno's Sunnyside Country Club.
"We are so proud of Hali," said head coach Angie Cates-Moore, a two-time WAC Coach of the Year. "She came here not very highly recruited and she made herself into a championship player. She's an excellent student and leader and we are just so happy for her. To overcome what she did today on the course was an amazing accomplishment. Any golfer knows how hard it is overcome a rough start like that, but she battled and turned it around. It was a great championship performance."
Coppin wasn't the only Bulldog with a solid final round. Fresno State shot the best score Wednesday (302) by seven strokes, tying for the lowest round of the tournament. Sophomore Louisa Lies (79-80-73--232) matched Coppin's 73, her best round of the tournament. Lies placed second at the 2009 WAC championships. She jumped 11 spots on the final round to tie for 11th place and was selected second-team All-WAC for her season-long performance.
The Bulldogs moved up from a tie for fifth in the team standings to finish fourth. Lindi Covarrubias (77-77-79--233) and tied for 13th, while Maria Pia Escandon (77-85--79--241) and Chelsea Czinksi (78-88-77--243) were tied for 27th and 29th respectively. San Jose State won the team title.
"It was a bitter sweet day," said Cates-Moore. "While we were happy for Hali, we couldn't help but think about yesterday's round. It just killed us. We came out and played the best round of the tournament, which was a great way to finish the season, but we had our chance to win the tournament and Tuesday took us out."
Coppin was selected first-team All-WAC and Lies was named to the All-WAC second team.
2009-10 WAC Awards
First Team All-WAC
Hali Coppin, Sr., Fresno State
Amanda Jacobs, Sr., Idaho
Kayla Mortellaro, So., Idaho
Cristina Corpus, Sr., San Jose State
Katrina Delen Briones, Jr., San Jose State
Madeleine Ziegert, Jr., San Jose State
Second Team All-WAC
Louisa Lies, So., Fresno State
Corie Hou, Sr., Hawai'i
Teo Poplawski, So., Idaho
Jamie Yam, So., Nevada
Shraddhanjali Singh, Sr., San Jose State
Player of the Year: Kayla Mortellaro, Idaho
Freshman of the Year: Kaili Britos, Hawai'i
Coach of the Year: Lisa Johnson, Idaho
"We are Your Team!" The Bulldog women's golf team wrapped-up its 2010 season with a fourth place finish at the 2010 WAC Championship. The Bulldogs will hold their annual award banquet Sunday afternoon.
Players Mentioned
