Sept. 23, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State's women's golf team will open the 2003-04 season at the 25th Annual Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational. The tournamend is hosted by Mountain West Conference rival New Mexico. The 17-team field features all six MWC teams and six of Golfweek's preseason top 25 teams, led by No. 4 Oklahoma State. The 54-hole tournament is held Thursday-Saturday at the UNM Championship Golf Course with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and Friday and 8:00 a.m. on Saturday.
Coaches Perspective
* "I am very excited about this season," said head coach Felicia Brown. "This is the strongest team I have seen here. We have some excellent newcomers to go along with several key returnees and we have been playing some good golf. However, we are a very young team so we have to see how we handle tournament pressure away from home. If we can handle it, we can do some damage.
"The New Mexico tournament will be a good test for us as there is some great competition, so we will see from the start how we measure up and hold up under tournament conditions against quality teams."
The Individual Spotlight
* The Dick McGuire Invitational presents an opportunity for the Aztecs' senior duo of Shayna Miyajima and Sandy Kim to match up against some of the nation's top collegiate golfers. The individual field boasts 6 of Golf World's top 50 Players to Watch in 2002-03, including No. 5 pick Annie Thurman of Oklahoma State, and No 7 ranked Kailin Downs of New Mexico.
What Did You Do This Summer?
* Senior Shayna Miyajima enters the fall 2003 collegiate season brimming with confidence after a summer that saw her compete in her second straight U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. Miyajima was one of 64 out of the 156 entries that advanced to match play competition, after she finished the first two days of stroke play tied for 42nd at nine-over par. However, Miyajima was defeated in her first round matchup. It was the second consecutive season Shayna advanced to stroke play, as she advanced to the round of 16 in 2002. A fixture in the Aztec line-up as one of the program's most consistent performers, Miyajima possessed San Diego State's best stroke average (76.68) as a junior in 2002-03. She boasted a perfect count percentage (1.000) with all of her 28 rounds on the season placing among the team's top four scores, including a career-best, one-under par 71 in the first round of the Mountain View Collegiate.
* Two Aztec newcomers also had an exciting summer as they went head-to-head for the Scottish National Championship. Freshman Jenna Wilson edged junior college transfer Heather MacRae by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to take home the title of Scottish Under-21 National Champion. Both players ended the 54-hole tournament at one-over par.
Meet The Aztecs
* The 2003-04 San Diego State women's golf team returns its top two players from a year ago to a roster that seems to be loaded with potential. The Aztecs boast the talented senior duo of Sandy Kim and Shayna Miyajima who both finished in the top 10 on the MWC leaderboard in stroke average. SDSU's season-opening lineup at the Dick McGuire Invitational will also feature three newcomers. Heather MacRae is a junior transfer from McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, where she won the 2003 individual junior college national championship. She also led McLennan to the team title in 2002, when she finished third as an individual. Megan Mulhaupt is a transfer from Indiana University, where she spent two seasons. The final starter this week is freshman Jenna Wilson from Scotland where she won the Under-21 Scottish National Championship over the summer.
Recapping 2002-03
* The Aztecs finished 2002-03 with four top-five finishes in 10 events, including a second-place result at the Oregon Duck Invitational. SDSU also placed third at their own Lady Aztec Invitational.
* Juniors Shayna Miyajima and Sandy Kim led the Aztecs with scoring averages of 76.68 and 76.69, respectively. Both return to lead the Aztecs for their senior seasons at SDSU.
Head Coach Felicia Brown
* Head coach Felicia Brown is in her second season at the helm of the SDSU golf program after serving as assistant coach in 2001-02. A native San Diegan, Brown prepped locally at San Marcos HS before playing collegiately at Arizona. She boasts professional playing experience on the Players' West Golf Tour and has had experience with the LPGA teaching division.