University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Sophomore Mariel Galdiano had a pair of Top 10s at the NCAA Regional and Championship.
Three Bruins Earn WGCA All-American Awards
May 26, 2018 | Women's Golf
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STILLWATER, Okla. - Junior Lilia Vu and freshman Patty Tavatanakit were honored as First Team All-Americans, while sophomore Mariel Galdiano was recognized as a Second Team All-American, as announced by the WGCA.
Vu picked up her third WGCA First Team All-American award in a row, Galdiano earned her second All-American honor (Honorable Mention as a freshman) and Tavatanakit picked up her first All-American nod.
Vu, the PING WGCA Player of the Year, posted a 70.37 scoring average this season, the lowest full-season scoring average in UCLA program history. She won four times and posted nine Top 10s, including a T-7 (-1, 287) at the recent NCAA Championships. Vu had 20 under-par rounds to tie a single-season school record, with 13 of them being in the 60s, which set a school record. Vu's four wins, all in a row, came at the Battle at the Beach, the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, the Bruin Wave Invitational and the Wildcat Invitational. She also tied for the low score at the Pac-12 Championships before losing a one-hole playoff to Tavatanakit. Her victory at the Wildcat was the eighth of her career to set a new UCLA record, while her 14-under score was the best 54-hole total in school history. The winner of three Pac-12 Golfer of the Month awards (November 2017, February and March 2018), the All-Pac-12 First Team selection was second at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview, tied for fifth at the Silverado Showdown and tied for sixth at the Stanford Intercollegiate and tied for 22nd at the NCAA Regional.
Tavatanakit, the WGCA Freshman of the Year, won four times in her freshman campaign to tie the UCLA single-season record for victories and set a new freshman mark for one season at UCLA. She didn't finish outside the Top 20 in any of her 10 events, posting six Top 10s. Of her 18 under-par rounds, 10 were in the 60s, as her 70.79 stroke average was the third-lowest, full-season scoring average in program history. Tavatanakit entered the NCAA Championships with three wins in a row at the Silverado Showdown, the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA San Francisco Regional. She also won in her second-career event, the Stanford Intercollegiate, while finishing second at the season-opening ANNIKA Intercollegiate and third at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview. Tavatanakit, who was also an All-Pac-12 First Team honoree and Pac-12 Golfer of the Month for April, tied for 19th at the NCAA Championships.
Galdiano, who was named All-Pac-12 First Team, recorded Top 10s in each of her last two events, tying for third at the NCAA San Francisco Regional (-6, 210) and tying for seventh at the NCAA Championship (-1, 287). She also won her quarterfinal Match Play contest against Arizona. Galdiano had six Top 10s on the season and nine Top 20s, posting a scoring average of 72.3. Of her 16 under-par rounds, five came in the postseason, with two at the NCAA Championship, two at the NCAA Regional and one at the Pac-12 Championships. She opened the Regional with a 6-under 66, closing with a 3-under 69. Galdiano had nine rounds in the 60s. She was under par in all three rounds at the Wildcat Invite, where she was second to Vu with a total of 11-under 205. Galdiano also tied for fourth at the Bruin Wave (+8, 224), tied for fifth at Nanea (-2, 144), was 11th at Stanford (+3, 216) and tied for 11th at both the ANNIKA (-1, 215) and the Battle of the Beach (E, 213).
Players Mentioned
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