SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's golf team continues its hectic fall schedule early next week when it travels to the Midwest for the Windy City Collegiate Classic, Oct. 1-2, just outside of Chicago in Wilmette, Ill.
Northwestern University, which advanced to the quarterfinals of match play at the NCAA Championships last year after a runner-up finish in 2017, will serve as host to the 11th annual event at the par-72, 6,360-yard Westmoreland Country Club. The first two rounds of the prestigious tournament will be contested on Monday, while the final 18 holes are pegged for a Tuesday completion. A live scoring link courtesy of Golfstat will be available on GoAztecs.com.
In addition to the No. 29 Wildcats, the 39th-ranked Aztecs will square off against eight other squads rated among the top 50 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin index, including, Florida (4), USC (5), Duke (8), Arizona State (9), South Carolina (22), defending national champion Arizona (23), Colorado (44) and Oklahoma State (45), while Big Ten members Michigan, Ohio State and Purdue round out the elite field, along with reigning Big 12 champion Iowa State.
Eighth-year head coach Leslie Spalding has adjusted her lineup for the Chicagoland excursion, replacing senior Kitty Tam with fellow classmate Daniela Anastasi. However, the rest of the SDSU contingent will remain the same for the second straight tournament, with sophomores Gioia Carpinelli, Sara Kjellker and junior Fernanda Escauriza making their third appearances of the fall, while sophomore Cameron Lee merits her second start in a row.
The Aztecs are coming off a 10th-place performance at the Golfweek Challenge Conference in Wolcott, Colo., where they carded a combined 31-over 895 at Red Sky Golf Club. Carpinelli was SDSU's top golfer, finishing a solo 12th on the individual leaderboard at 3-over 219, while Kjellker just missed out on a top-25 placement, tying for 27th with a 5-over 221. In addition, Lee shot a 15-over 231 to tie for the 59th position, while Escauriza recorded an 18-over 234 to tie for 71st.
Through two events, Carpinelli leads the Aztecs with a 71.50 scoring average, while Kjellker (73.33) ranks second, followed by Anastasi (74.33) Escauriza (75.17) and Lee (77.00).
SDSU will be making its second straight appearance in the Windy City Collegiate Classic and third overall after tying for 12th last year with a collective 50-over 902 at the par-71 Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill. Carpinelli is one of two Aztecs returning from last season's tournament after tying for 55th with a 14-over 227, while Escauriza tied for 67th at 20-over 233.
In 2010, the Scarlet and Black landed in the sixth spot at the Windy City Classic with a combined 906 (+54) at Northmoor as well. Individually, former Aztec star Christine Wong tied for sixth at that event during her sophomore campaign, firing a 7-over 220 for one of her 13 top-10 career finishes.
Arizona State (+1) will be seeking to defend its team title from a year ago after edging Oklahoma State (+4) in the standings. Arizona's Haley Moore is the tournament's top returning individual after she finished alone in fifth place with a 2-under 211, while the Sun Devils' Olivia Mehaffey (6th, -1) and the Cowgirls' Stephanie Astrup (7th, E) are also back in the mix, along with Ohio State's Jaclyn Lee (T-9th, +2), Iowa State's Chayanit Wangmahaporn (T-9th, +2), Purdue's Melati Putri (T-12th, +3), Duke's Jaravee Boonchant (T-15th, +4), Florida's Carlotta Ricolfi (T-18th, +5) and Northwestern's Brooke Riley (T-18th, +5).
The Windy City Collegiate Classic returns to the host site Westmoreland Country Club for the first time since a two-year run in 2014 and 2015.
Following its Chicago sojourn, SDSU returns to the fairways when it travels to the Bay Area for the Stanford Intercollegiate, Oct. 19-21, in Stanford, Calif.