2019 Pac-12 women's golf postseason honors

SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 announced today that STANFORD junior Albane Valenzuela was named the Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year, while USC’s Malia Nam was selected as the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Freshman of the Year. ARIZONA head coach Laura Ianello and USC head coach Justin Silverstein were named as the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Co-Coaches of the Year. In addition to these awards, the Pac-12 Women’s Golf All-Conference Team is also listed below as previously announced on April 17.

Valenzuela, a native of Geneva, Switzerland, produced a stellar season for the Cardinal while posting five top-8 finishes this season, including a tie atop the leaderboard at the Pac-12 Championships. Her sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships was key in guiding the Cardinal to the quarterfinals of NCAA Match Play for the fifth straight season. Currently ranked seventh in the World Golf Amateur Rankings, she posted a 72.36 scoring average this season and was named first team All-America by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Valenzuela is the first Cardinal to be named Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year.

Nam, who hails from Kailua, Hawai’i, becomes the fifth Trojan to earn Pac-12 Women’s Golf Freshman of the Year honors. She opened the season with an impressive performance at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate where she finished second after posting a score of 12-under. She went on to post top-10 finishes in five other events in 2018-19 and had a 72.57 scoring average. She finished tied for 29th at the NCAA Championships where she helped lead the Trojans to the quarterfinals of Match Play.

Ianello earns her second Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor, having also been selected in 2010. She guided the Wildcats to either a first- or second-place finish five times this season, including runner-up showings at the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Regional. A year after leading the Wildcats to the NCAA title, she led the team to the semifinals at this year’s NCAA Championships before bowing out to eventual national champion Duke.  Other Wildcat coaches to earn Women’s Golf Coach of the Year honors were Kim Haddow (1992), Rick LaRose (1998) and Todd McCorkle (2000).

Silverstein, in his first season as head coach of the Women of Troy, led USC to seven tournament wins during the 2018-19 season. USC was the only team at the Pac-12 Championships to finish under par (-1) and ran away from the field by 15 strokes at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional shooting 20-under 844. He extended the Trojans consecutive streak of top-5 NCAA finishes to 14 after placing third in stroke play at this year’s NCAA Championships. Silverstein, who spent the previous two seasons as an assistant for the USC men’s program, becomes the third USC coach to be named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, joining Cathy Bright (1987) and Andrea Gaston (2008, 2013, 2014).

The Pac-12 Postseason Awards and Pac-12 All-Conference Team are voted on by Pac-12 head golf coaches. Please see below for the complete list of honors (All-Conference team was announced early on April 17 following the conclusion of the Pac-12 Championships):     

Pac-12 All-Conference
Jennifer Chang.......................... So............... USC.......................... Cary, N.C.
Mariel Galdiano.......................... Jr................ UCLA........................ Pearl City, Hawai’i
Amelia Garvey........................... So............... USC.......................... Christchurch, New Zealand
Yu-Sang Hou............................. So............... Arizona..................... Taipei, Taiwan
Andrea Lee............................... Jr................ Stanford.................... Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Olivia Mehaffey.......................... Jr................ Arizona State............ Belfast, Ireland
Malia Nam................................. Fr............... USC ......................... Kailua, Hawai’i
Bianca Pagdanganan................ Sr............... Arizona..................... Quezon City, Philippines
Gabriela Ruffels......................... So............... USC.......................... Sandringham, Victoria, Australia
Ellie Slama................................. So............... Oregon State............. Salem, Oregon
Patty Tavatanakit....................... So............... UCLA........................ Bangkok, Thailand
Albane Valenzuela..................... Jr................ Stanford.................... Geneva, Switzerland

Pac-12 Honorable Mention
Alyaa Aboulghany...................... So............... USC.......................... Newport Beach, Calif.
Allisen Corpuz............................ Jr................ USC.......................... Honolulu, Hawai’i
Wenyung Keh............................ Sr............... Washington............... Auckland, New Zealand
Aline Krauter............................. Fr............... Stanford.................... Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Haley Moore.............................. Sr............... Arizona..................... Escondido, Calif.
Cindy Oh.................................... Sr............... California................... Gardena, Calif.
Petra Salko................................ Sr............... Oregon...................... Turku, Finland
Katherine Zhu............................ Fr............... California................... San Jose, Calif.
 

Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year: Albane Valenzuela, Stanford
Pac-12 Women’s Golf Freshman of the Year: Malia Nam, USC
Pac-12 Women’s Golf Co-Coaches of the Year: Laura Ianello, Arizona; Justin Silverstein, USC