Leina ends RMAC fall season with victory

Leina Kim, seen here pointing to her winning score in last year’s tournament, incidentally shot a two-day total of 142 in her last event for the fall season and eventually won the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invitational in the third playoff hole.

Kim, who topped her first three competitions and finished tied for third in last week’s RMAC Tournament #2 at Junction’s Bookcliff Country Club in Colorado, outlasted Newman University’s Courtney Zietsman in the third playoff hole.

The Colorado State University-Pueblo junior golfer tamed the par-71, 5,600-yard with a 4-under 67 to lead the 78-player field on opening day. She slowed down in the final round with four bogeys, including double bogeys at the par-4 No. 6 for a 4-over 75 and even par 142 overall.

Those double bogeys negated her two birdies at Nos. 10 and 15 at the back nine and allowed Zietsman to catch her on top as the Newman University bet shot a second-round 1-under par 70 to duplicate Kim’s 142.

Zietsman matched Kim stroke after stroke for two holes to keep the deadlock, but the latter delivered under pressure and played steadily in the deciding third hole, hitting a 260-yard shot with the ball landing directly down the middle of the green. Kim, a three-time RMAC Women’s Golfer of the Week awardee this season, then sank the winning put downhill the left edge to seal the win.

Her teammate Julie Sanchez, who also brought home the RMAC Women’s Golfer of the Week award, closed out the second round with a 3-over 71 for a two-day haul of 148 to end up tied for sixth. A triple bogey at the par-4 No. 5 foiled her attempt for a second straight Top 3 finish. Sanchez had his fourth Top 5 finish this season after placing tied for third together with Kim and Metro State University’s Cha Cha Willhoite in the RMAC #2 Tournament last week.

CSU-Pueblo junior Danielle DuPont had rounds of 87 for joint 49th while San Antonio, Texas native Natasha Navarro tallied 175 to land in a tie for 51st and Greely, Colorado bet Samantha Geisick ended up tied at 59th with a 36-over 179.

The Lady ThunderWolves as a team finished sixth over with a two-day tally of 636 or 46 shots back of tournament winner Newman University’s round of 291 and 299 for 590, while host West Texas A&M came in at second with its 604. Metro State placed third (618), while St. Mary’s and Wayland Baptist finished tied for fourth to fifth spots with their identical scores of 620.

Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Colorado Mesa University, Lubbock Christian University, Regis University, Western New Mexico University, Adams State College, Colorado Christian University, Chadron State College, and Fort Lewis College were the other competing schools. (Jon Perez)