Sept. 19, 2013
SAN DIEGO - Fresh off a season-opening excursion to the Upper Midwest, the San Diego State women's golf team resumes its busy stretch this weekend when it travels to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, Sept. 20-21, on the Championship Course at the University of New Mexico.
The two-day, 54-hole tournament commences Friday with the first two rounds, beginning at 8 a.m. MT, while the final 18 holes will be contested on Saturday. A live scoring link courtesy of Golfstat will be available on www.goaztecs.com.
Along with host New Mexico, the Aztecs will get an early look at fellow Mountain West rivals Fresno State, Nevada, UNLV and Wyoming, while Pac-12 Conference members Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State are also slated to make the trip to the Land of Enchantment. In addition, SDSU will battle a pair of squads that landed in Golfweek's preseason top-20 rankings, No. 15 Pepperdine and No. 16 Northwestern, while Iowa, Iowa State, Texas Tech, UC Davis and UTEP comprise the remainder of the 16-team field.
Third-year Aztec head coach Leslie Spalding will employ the same lineup utilized earlier this week at the Minnesota Invitational: senior Maureen Dunnagan, junior Paige Spiranac, sophomores Emma Henrikson and Shannon Lubar, as well as freshman Sirene Blair. In addition, junior Kristina Lynn will once again compete as an individual golfer.
SDSU received a pair of top-10 individual performances in Minneapolis, as Blair tied for the sixth position after shooting a combined 10-over 226, while Henrikson finished one stroke behind in a tie for eighth at 11-over 227. As a team, the Aztecs tied for the fourth spot with Georgia Regents (formerly Augusta State) after recording a collective score of 922 (+58), trailing only champion Kent State (+38), runner-up Illinois (+39) and Minnesota (+47).
Henrikson, who garnered Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors in 2012-13, made her collegiate debut for SDSU last season at the Branch/McGuire, finishing in a tie for 25th at 5-over 224, while Lynn (T-49th, 232) and Dunnagan (T-76th, 238) also cracked the starting lineup for the Aztecs, who tied for 13th in the team standings after carding a collective 919 (+43).
This year marks the 35th edition of the Branch/McGuire, which became a separate tournament in 1979, after the New Mexico women's squad co-hosted the William H. Tucker Invitational with the Lobo men's team from 1956-78. Iowa State (886 (+10)), captured the team title in 2012, edging UNLV, Ohio State and UC Davis by one shot, while Colorado's Jennifer Coleman returns to defend her individual crown after posting a winning total of 11-under 208 last season.
Following its New Mexico trip, San Diego State will have over three weeks off before returning to the course for the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, Oct. 13-15, in Austin, Texas.