Smith Climbs into Top 10 at Bruin Wave

Somis, Calif. – Kate Smith produced a second-round 74 to move into a tie for ninth individually through 36 holes at the Bruin Wave Invitational on Tuesday.

Smith, a fifth-year senior from Detroit Lakes, Minn., managed 37s on both the front and back nines of The Saticoy Club on Tuesday, in challenging scoring conditions similar to those in Monday’s opening round. Her two-over-par round was one of the best of the day on the tough 6,273-yard, par-72 layout.

“Kate’s performance today was stellar with four birdies to move her up the leaderboard after a rough first few holes,” Nebraska Coach Lisa Johnson said. “This team continues to demonstrate great competitiveness and grit. We played the back nine extremely well after a very poor start to our round today. We are excited for the opportunity to put everything together in tomorrow’s final round.” 

Smith heads to the final round at 152, nine strokes back of leader Linn Grant from Arizona State. Grant is the only golfer in the field to play the first two rounds at par or better, including a tournament-best 70 (-2) on Tuesday. Grant enters the final round at 143 (-1).

With Smith leading the way, Nebraska continued to battle in the middle of a talent-rich 15-team field. As a team, the Huskers managed a 319 on Tuesday, including a 79 (+7) from freshman Lindsey Thiele. However, no other Husker was able to break 80 in Tuesday’s conditions. Graduate transfer Alice Duan heads to Wednesday’s final round in 39th (161) in the 82-player field despite a second-round 82. Freshman Michaela Vavrova completed Nebraska’s count-four scoring on Tuesday with an 84 and is tied with Thiele for 62nd overall (168) in the individual standings. Junior Megan Whittaker, who carded Nebraska’s best round on Monday, struggled with an 87 on Tuesday and heads to the final round tied for 47th (164).

Arizona State moved into the top spot in the team standings at 610 after the best round of the tournament with a 301 (+13) on Tuesday. Oregon slipped five strokes behind the Sun Devils after entering the second round with a three-stroke lead. New Mexico remained at third with a 616, while Northwestern (621), the hosts from UCLA (624) and Pepperdine (626), along with Oregon State (631) sit directly in front of the Huskers.

Arizona State’s Grant owns a two-stroke lead over Oregon’s Ching-Tzu Chen (145), while UCLA’s Emma Spitz (146) moved into third with an even-par 72 Tuesday.

Wednesday’s final round begins with tee times at 10 a.m. (CT). Live scoring will be available through GolfStat.com.

Bruin Wave Invitational

Somis, Calif. (The Saticoy Club)

Par 72, 6,273 Yards

March 1-3, 2021

Team Standings (Second Round)

1. Arizona State – 309-301-610

2. Oregon – 306-309-615

3. New Mexico – 313-303-616

4. Northwestern – 315-306-621

5. UCLA – 313-311-624

6. Pepperdine – 319-307-626

7. Oregon State – 322-309-631

8. Nebraska – 318-319-637

9. New Mexico State – 317-321-638

10. Washington – 325-314-639

11. San Diego State – 326-320-646

12. Cal State Fullerton – 320-328-648

13. Colorado State – 326-323-649

14. Cal Poly – 326-336-662

15. Long Beach State – 326-337-663

Individual Leaderboard

1. Linn Grant, Arizona State – 73-70-143 (-1)

2. Ching-Tzu Chen, Oregon – 72-73-145 (+1)

3. Emma Spitz, UCLA – 74-72-146 (+2)

4. Irene Kim, Northwestern – 73-74-147 (+3)

5. Napat Lertsadwattana, New Mexico – 75-73-148 (+4)

6. Reese Guzman, Pepperdine – 76-73-149 (+5)

T7. Hsin Yu-Lu, Oregon – 78-73-151 (+7)

T7. Alison Gastelum, New Mexico State – 76-75-151 (+7)

T9. Kate Smith, Nebraska – 78-74-152 (+8)

T9. Briana Chacon, Oregon – 72-80-152 (+8)

T9. Myah McDonald, New Mexico – 79-73-152 (+8)

Nebraska Individuals

T9. Kate Smith – 78-74-152 (+8)

39. Alice Duan – 79-82-161 (+17)

T47. Megan Whittaker – 77-87-164 (+20)

T62. Michaela Vavrova – 84-84-168 (+24)

T62. Lindsey Thiele – 89-79-168 (+24)