SAN DIEGO -- After three straight runner-up placements, the San Diego State women's golf team will be aiming for its second conference title in the last five years when it travels to the Palm Springs area next week for the Mountain West Championship, April 15-17, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The 54-hole event will be conducted at Mission Hills Country Club on the renowned Dinah Shore Tournament Course, home of one of the LPGA Tour's majors, the ANA Inspiration, formerly known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The nine-team field will play 18 holes on the par-72, 6,270-yard layout each of the three days, following a practice round on Sunday. The Aztecs received the No. 2 seed are scheduled to tee off with No. 5 New Mexico and No. 8 Boise State in the second group on Monday, starting at 7:45 a.m. PT, while the pairings for the final two rounds with be based on team standings. A live scoring link will be available courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com.
The MW Championship returns to Mission Hills for the seventh straight season after a two-year run in 2011 and 2012 at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Ariz., just outside of Phoenix. During the 2009 and 2010 campaigns, the event was held at the Black Horse Golf Club in Seaside, Calif., near Monterey. In the league's 18-year history, the championships have also been contested in three other states: Oregon, Utah and New Mexico.
Aztec Lineup
Eighth-year San Diego State head coach Leslie Spalding will accompany five golfers to the Coachella Valley next week, featuring sophomores Gioia Carpinelli (Boppelsen, Switzerland) and Sara Kjellker (Hollviken, Sweden), junior Fernanda Escauriza (Asunción, Paraguay), as well as seniors Daniela Anastasi (La Jolla, Calif.) and Kitty Tam (Hong Kong, China).
Escauriza will looking to duplicate her success from the 2017 MW Championship when she became the Aztecs' first-ever medalist in a conference tournament after shooting a 6-under 210 to win by two strokes during the her freshman campaign. She also tied for eighth at last season's event with a 4-over 220, finishing seven shots behind SDSU's Mila Chaves, who took home the individual crown before completing her eligibility.
In addition, Carpinelli (20th, +12) and Kjellker (T-35th, +20) find themselves in the thick of the fight for the second year in row, while Anastasi and Tam are each making their first conference tournament appearances. Carpinelli finds herself at No. 59 in the latest Golfstat individual rankings, while Kjellker checks in at No. 129.
SDSU At The MW Championship
Despite boasting medalist Mila Chaves and two other top-10 players in Georgia Lacey (T-6th) and Fernanda Escauriza (T-8th), the Aztecs (+16) took second place at the Mountain West Championship for the third year in a row last season, finishing eight strokes behind UNLV (+8).
In 2017, SDSU also sported the individual winner in Escauriza and set a school record for lowest collective score in a conference tournament with a 7-over 871. However, the Scarlet and Black was relegated to the runner-up spot once again after the champion UNLV (+4) emerged triumphant by three strokes.
The Aztecs also came up just short in their quest for a league title the previous year after a second-place effort at the 2016 MW Championship. Despite firing a combined 2-under 286 during the final round, a school standard for 18 holes in a conference tournament, San Diego State finished at 22-over 886, nine strokes in back of first-place UNLV (+13).
In 2015, the Aztecs captured the first MW championship in program history after topping New Mexico by five shots. Despite falling on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, Mila Chaves shattered the SDSU record for best individual score in a 54-hole league tournament after firing a 6-under 210, which was ultimately matched by fellow compatriot Escauriza in 2017. With her first-place tie in regulation, Chaves equaled the finish of Christine Wong, who also lost on the fourth hole of a playoff in 2012.
In addition to its conference crown that season, San Diego has finished fifth at the MW tourney on seven occasions, second five times, third and seventh twice, while placing fourth and sixth once each.
In 2014, the Aztecs landed in a three-way tie for third after occupying the fifth position in 2013. SDSU also posted back-to-back fifth-place performances in 2010 and 2011 to go along with another third-place effort in 2012. In addition, the Scarlet and Black wound up seventh in both 2008 and 2009, following a sixth-place result in 2007. The program was also fifth in 2003, 2005 and 2006, fourth in 2004 to go with consecutive runner-up placements in 2001 and 2002. The Aztecs were disqualified in the inaugural tournament in 2000, after two players turned in incorrect scorecards in the third and final round.
The Competition
Five of SDSU's opponents at the MW Championship are among the top 100 teams in the latest Golfstat rankings released April 9. San José State is the highest rated squad in the field, landing in the 27th spot this week, while defending champion UNLV checks in at No. 76, followed by Colorado State (90), New Mexico (92) and Fresno State (95). In addition, SDSU will lock horns with Nevada (105), Boise State (121) and Wyoming (167), while the two remaining MW members, Air Force and Utah State, do not sponsor women's golf programs.
The Aztecs own an 11-2 record in head-to-head results against fiveconference foes during the 2018-19 campaign, including a 4-0 ledger against New Mexico. SDSU has also maintained spotless marks against UNLV (3-0), Fresno State (2-0) and Colorado State (1-0), but came out on the wrong side of standings in two of three tournaments competing against San José State. Conversely, the Scarlet and Black has not faced, Nevada, Wyoming or Boise State.
Individually, seven of the top-15 finishers return from last year's conference championship, including Colorado State's Katrina Prendergrast (E) and Ellen Secor (+1), who landed in the third and fourth spots, respectively, while SDSU's Fernanda Escauriza (+4) and UNLV's Polly Mack (+4) tied for eighth. Fellow Rebel teammates Shannon Oh (+5) and Elizabeth Prior (+5) are also back in the mix after each tied for 10th, while Wyoming's Erin Sargent (+7) tied for 15th.
San José State senior Abegail Arevalo, who enters the week as the top-ranked golfer in the MW is expected to contend as well, along with teammates Natasha Andrea Oon, Franziska Friedrich and Alexandra Cooper, the Aztecs' Gioia Carpinelli and Sara Kjellker, Fresno State's Brigitte Thibault and Jessica Hall, Nevada's Victoria Gailey, Chaithra Katamneni and Jenny Krause, and Boise State's Tara Finigan, all of whom are among the league's top 20 players in Golfstat's head-to-head rankings.
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Women's Golf Sets Sights on MW Championship
