SAN DIEGO – The Aztec women's golf team has a quick turnaround and will be playing in the Valspar Augusta Invitational (Ga.) beginning Saturday, just five days after completing the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational in the Bay Area.
The Valspar Augusta Invitational will be played at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The 16-team field features five top-25 teams and eight in the top 50. The Aztecs are the only school competing that is west of the Mississippi River.
Schools competing include Augusta (host), No. 9 Alabama, Coastal Carolina, No. 14 Florida State, No. 45 Furman, Georgia Southern, Memphis, No. 41 Miami, Minnesota, No. 25 Ole Miss, No. 38 Purdue, San Diego State, No. 4 South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee and No. 23 Virginia Tech.
It will be an early start for the Aztecs. They play 36 holes on Saturday beginning with a 5 a.m. PT (8 a.m. ET) shotgun start and then play the final 18 at 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET) on Sunday. On Saturday, golfers will have to deal with high winds and morning showers. Sunday calls for sunny skies with temperatures reaching the low 50's.
The Forest Hills Golf Club (Par 72, 6,244 yards) is located just a few miles from the Augusta National Golf Club.
The Aztecs are currently No. 71 in the Golfstat Team rankings and have a head-to-head record of 29-44 (.397). SDSU is coming off a strong showing at the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational where they finished sixth out of 13 schools with an 879 (+15). They had the second-best first round score and fourth-best third round.
SDSU's lineup will be Sara Kjellker, Bernice Olivarez Ilas, Anna Lina Otten, Esti Garcia Rubio and Anika Sato. This is the same lineup as the Aztecs' last tournament except Kjellker and Olivarez Ilas flipped spots.
Kjellker led the Aztecs and finished tied for fifth earlier this week. She had two sub-70 rounds and finished with a season-low score of 213 (-3). She is averaging 72.7 strokes per round in the spring.
Olivarez Ilas has finished in the top 30 in four of SDSU's five tournaments. She is coming off a T-16th finish where she shot a 218 (73-74-71). Her 73.6 average round is second on the team.
Otten is coming off her second-highest finish of the year (T-36th) after shooting a 225 (+9).
Garcia Rubio had the best 54-hole score in her young career earlier this week. She shot a 225 (+9) and tied Otten for 36th. Her first-round score of 73 was her best 18 through three collegiate tournaments.
Sato has been the top Aztec finisher in three of SDSU's five tournaments but is coming off her worst showing. She shot a 231 (+15) and only scored for the Aztecs in one round. Through five tournaments, her average 18-hole score is 74.1, third on the team.
Aztecs Competing in Valspar Augusta Invitational
