Wake Forest Athletics
Clau Wins Spanish International Junior Championship
6/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
June 28, 2001
CORUNNA, Spain -- Wake Forest women's golfer Nuria Clau won the 2001 Spanish International Junior Championship last weekend at Corunna Golf Club in Corunna, Spain. Clau, a Barcelona native who just finished her sophomore season at Wake Forest, advanced through four rounds of match play to win the tournament.
The 10th seed in the 16-player tournament, Clau eliminated the seven seed, Carla Pilcher, in the first round when she went ahead five with three holes left. Clau then dispatched the two seed, Ines Diaz Negrete, in the quarterfinals when she gained a lead of three with two holes left. In the semifinals, Clau was up five with four holes remaining to defeat the 14 seed, Immaculate de La Lama and then in the finals, Clau finished off the nine seed, Claire Grignolo from Italy, by reaching a lead of two with one hole left.
This past season Clau had three top 10 finishes and helped the Demon Deacons to a second place finish in the ACC. An all-conference nominee her freshman year, Clau tied for first place at the 2000 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate as a freshman, but lost the playoff. The 1999 Spanish Amateur National Champion is a former member of Spain's World Cup team. Clau competed in the 1999 European Team Championships and fired a 75 and 74. She also competed in the British Girl's Tournament, shooting a 70 and 71.
Also competing in the Spanish International Junior Championship was Demon Deacon teammate Maria Beautell. Hailing from The Canary Islands, Spain, Beautell also just completed her sophomore year at Wake Forest. Beautell, the 11 seed, finished two ahead of the six seed, Maria Hernandez, in the first seed, but then was eliminated after 16 holes of the quarterfinals by de La Lama.
