March 15, 2018
SAN DIEGO -- Following a two-week hiatus, the San Diego State women's golf team returns to the fairways this week when it travels south of the border for the University of Iowa's Hawkeye-El Tigre Invitational, March 16-17, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The first two rounds of 54-hole event are scheduled to get underway Friday in an 8 a.m. CT/6 a.m. PT shotgun start at the par-72, 6,085-yard El Tigre Golf Club, while the final round is slated for a Saturday completion with tee times as early as 9 a.m. CT/7 a.m. PT.
Along with host Iowa, the No. 45 Aztecs will battle six additional squads ranked among the Golfstat top 75, including No. 14 Washington, No. 16 Arizona, No. 29 Wisconsin, No. 46 Kennesaw State, No. 56 New Mexico, No. 71 Chattanooga and No. 72 Indiana, while Idaho, Grand Canyon and New Mexico State round out the list of competing schools.
Seventh-year SDSU head coach Leslie Spalding will accompany six players to the Mexican Riviera, including the starting lineup of freshmen Sara Kjellker (Hollviken, Sweden) and Gioia Carpinelli (Boppelsen, Switzerland), along with seniors Haleigh Krause (Eugene, Ore.), Georgia Lacey (Del Mar, Calif.) and Mila Chaves (Asuncion, Paraguay), while sophomore Fernanda Escauriza (Asuncion, Paraguay) will compete as an unattached golfer.
The Aztecs are coming off a fourth-place finish at the Bruin Wave Invitational in their last outing on Feb. 27. Playing in less than ideal conditions, Kjellker tied for seventh with a 10-over 226 in a strong field that featured five Pac-12 teams ranked among the top 20. With her performance, the native Swede was named Mountain West Women's Golfer of the Week on March 1.
For the season, Kjellker leads the Aztecs with a 74.87 scoring average in five events, while Carpinelli (75.67) ranks second, followed by Krause (76.13) and Chaves (76.13).
SDSU will be making its first appearance at the Hawkeye-El Tigre Invitational, which enters its second year. Washington will be looking to defend its team title from the inaugural event a year ago with a combined 9-over 873, while Wisconsin (+15) and Kennesaw State (+32) are the two other top returning teams after finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Following their international journey, the Aztecs will have nine days to prepare for their lone home tournament of the season, the always challenging SDSU March Mayhem, scheduled for March 26-28, at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.