Women’s Golf In Hawaii For Pac-12 Preview
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A fall season that began in Japan for the Oregon State women’s golf team will end in Kona, Hawaii when the Beavers face their most competitive field yet Monday and Tuesday at the inaugural Pac-12 Preview.
FIELD (12): Oregon State, Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington and Washington State.
The field includes the top three teams in the nation according to Golfweek -- No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC and No. 3 Stanford -- and an additional three teams ranked in the top 10 -- No. 5 Washington, No. 9 Arizona and No. 10 Arizona State. Utah doesn’t have a women’s golf program so Hawaii will compete to bring the field to 12 teams.
Individually, the Pac-12 Conference has eight golfers ranked in the top 25, including five of the top 10, according to Golfweek: 1) Allison Lee, UCLA; 2) Kyung Kim, USC, 5) Mariah Stackhouse, Stanford; 8) Lindsey Weaver, Arizona; 9) SooBin Kim, Washington; 20) Noemi Jimenez, Arizona State; 21) Charlotte Thomas, Washington; 22) Bronte Law, UCLA.
COURSE: The tournament will be held at the par-73, 6,112-yard Nanea Golf Club. It will be the first non-member tournament ever to be held there in the 10-year history of the course.
The member’s only golf course, built in 2003, is the creation of financiers George Roberts and Charles Schwab. The clubhouse at Nanea was constructed to resemble Kona Island’s five volcanoes, while the course, designed by David McLay Kidd, was carved from a mountainside on the Big Island with lava rock lining the far stretches of playable area before it drops into the Pacific Ocean.
The layout of the golf course is not easily traversable by foot, so golfers will be shuttled in carts at designated spots and each team will be provided with a caddy.
BEAVERS’ LINEUP: Oregon State will go with its usual lineup of seniors Lauren Sewell and Seshia Telles, junior Anica Yoo and sophomores Ashlee Pickerell and Chelsea Saelee.
FORMAT: Two-day, 54-hole tournament with 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday. The top-four individuals from each five-member team with the lowest scores for each 18-hole round constitute the scoring members for that given round.
TEE TIMES: There will be a shotgun start each day at 7:30 a.m. HT (10:30 a.m. PT).
LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers concluded the three-day, 54-hole Stanford Intercollegiate in 14th place this past Tuesday. The Beavers shot a 48-over 304-294-302--900 at the par-71, 6,130-yard Stanford Golf Course to finish 14th in the 16-team field, which featured 10 teams ranked in the top 25, including five of the nation’s top 10.
Telles had four birdies and two bogeys going out to get her to 2 under through nine holes but was unable to get a bird on her back nine. She finished the tournament with a team-best 6-over 73-72-74--219 to put her in a tie for 35th place.
Yoo finished in a tie for 61st with a 13-over 77-74-75--226, Sewell was tied for 67th with a 15-over 77-75-76--228, Pickerell was a stroke back with a 16-over 77-73-79--229 for a tie for 73rd and Saelee finished in sole 83rd with a 23-over 80-79-77--236.
USC edged UCLA for the team title and the Bruins’ Alison Lee came back to claim medalist honors with a 7-under 206, just ahead of a trio of Trojans’ golfers.