Sept. 29, 2017
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State women's golf team continues its busy stretch next week when it competes in the Windy City Collegiate Classic, Oct. 2-3, at Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois.
Northwestern University, the 2017 NCAA runner-up and No. 6 team in the latest Golfweek rankings, will serve as host to the 10th annual tournament, which features seven additional top-25 schools in No. 2 Duke, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Michigan, No. 20 Oregon, No. 21 Florida and No. 25 Purdue. The Aztecs, who enter the event ranked 37th, will also battle Arizona, California and Iowa State, while Tulane and UC Davis round out the elite field.
San Diego State will tee off alongside Ohio State and Arizona for the first two rounds on Monday, beginning on hole No. 10 at 8:24 a.m. CT/6:24 a.m. PT, while tee times for Tuesday's final round will be based on team standings, starting as early as 7:30 a.m. CT/5:30 a.m. PT. A live scoring link courtesy of Golfstat will be available on GoAztecs.com.
Northmoor Country Club consists of three 9-hole courses, with next week's tournament utilizing the Blue and White loops to complete the par-71, 6,200-yard configuration.
Seventh-year head coach Leslie Spalding has adjusted her lineup for the Chicagoland venture, replacing freshman Sara Kjellker with senior Mila Chaves. However, the rest of the SDSU delegation will remain the same for the second straight event, with seniors Georgia Lacey, Haleigh Krause and freshman Gioia Carpinelli making their third appearances of the fall campaign, while sophomore Fernanda Escauriza earns her second start in a row.
The Aztecs are coming off a fifth-place tie at the Golfweek Challenge Conference in Wolcott, Colorado, where they fell short of a third consecutive team title at Red Sky Golf Club after shooting a 20-over 884. Lacey was SDSU's top finisher, tying for 17th on the individual leaderboard at 3-over 219, while Krause landed in the 22nd spot at 5-over 221.
In addition, Carpinelli just missed out on the top 25, tying for 26th with a 6-over 222, while Escauriza finished in the 48th slot at 10-over 226.
For the season, Lacey leads the Scarlet and Black with a 73.17 scoring average in six rounds, followed by Carpinelli (73.67) and Krause (74.00).
SDSU will be making just its second appearance in the Windy City Collegiate Classic after posting a sixth-place finish in 2010 with a combined 906 (+54) at the same venue. Former Aztec star Christine Wong tied for sixth at that event during her sophomore campaign, carding a 7-under 220 for one of her 13 top-10 career finishes.
The top three finishing teams from last season, Georgia, Stanford and USC, will not be participating in this year's installment of the Windy Cindy Collegiate Classic, leaving Florida as the top returning school. In 2016, the Gators placed fourth after firing a 1-over 865 at Glen View Club, while Duke (+8) edged Purdue (+9) for fifth.
Duke's Leona Maguire is the top returning individual following a third-place performance last year with an 8-under 208, while Northwestern's Hannah Kim and Florida's Marta Perez are also back in the mix after tying for seventh at 3-under.
Following the Windy City Collegiate Classic, SDSU will wrap up its fall schedule when it travels to the Lone Star State for the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, Oct. 9-10, in Austin, Texas.