SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's golf team is playing in the University of Wyoming's Cowgirl Classic this Wednesday and Thursday. This will be the Aztecs' second tournament in a week's span.
Although hosted by Wyoming, the tournament will take place at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course in Maricopa, Ariz.
The 54-hole tournament will get underway Wednesday with 36 holes beginning with a 7:30 a.m. PT shotgun start. The final round will also begin with a 7:30 p.m. shotgun start Thursday.
The 20-team field includes five Mountain West teams (Wyoming, Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and SDSU). The rest of the field includes West coast schools: Hawaii, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Montana, Montana State, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, UTEP, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Santa Clara, Southern Utah, CSUN, UC Riverside and Cal State Bakersfield.
Head coach Lauren Dobashi (3rd season) will use the lineup of Emma Narita, Stephanie Barbaglia, Anika Sato, Nikki Kato, and Andrea Gomez. Anna Lina Otten will be playing as an individual.
Narita (Tokyo, Japan) has been the top Aztec five in four of SDSU's eight tournaments and leads SDSU with an 18-hole average of 74.1. She tied for 24th place with a six-over-par 222 last weekend at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Georgia.
Barbaglia (Johannesburg, South Africa) has the team's best 18-hole average (74.9) in the spring and has finished in the top three among SDSU golfers in all eight tournaments.
Sato (Utsunomiya, Japan) had her best performance of the season last month at the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational, tying for 20th place (out of 75) with a one-over-par 145. She shot a 74 and then a 71 and was trending toward another under-par round before the third round was canceled.
Freshman Nikki Kato (Redmond, Wash.) will be making her second appearance and first collegiate start. She played as an individual at the San Diego State Classic in early February.
Gomez (Huixquilucan, Mexico), one of SDSU's two seniors, has started every tournament for the Aztecs this year.
Otten (Neuss, Germany), the Aztecs' other senior, has made 31 career starts (out of 33).
The Ak-Chin Southern Dune Golf Club Desert Course, which is 6,191, yards and plays as a par 72. It is on many top 100 lists for best courses in the country.
The forecast for both days calls for clear skies with temperatures approaching 80 degrees.
Aztecs Playing in Cowgirl Classic in Arizona
