SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s golf team kicks off their season Monday when they play in the Leadership and Golf Invitational which is co-hosted by Washington and Seattle and played at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash. The tournament will be streamed on Golfkast (GKLive.TV).
The 17-team tournament field comprises of nearly all West Coast schools and features Mountain West counterparts Fresno State and Wyoming. Other schools competing include: Cal Poly, Colorado, Santa Clara, UC Davis, Oregon State, Long Beach State, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Gonzaga, Eastern Michigan, USC and the host schools Washington and Seattle.
Head coach Lauren Dobashi (4th season) will use the lineup of Ema Narita, Stephanie Barbaglia, Anika Sato, Kylie Phi and Nikki Kato.
Narita (Tokyo, Japan) had standout debut season for the Aztecs, finishing the season with a 73.83 stroke average, the lowest ever by a freshman in school history. At this event last year, she led the Aztecs with a two-over-par 218, which tied for 15th overall.
Barbaglia (Johannesburg, South Africa) led SDSU with a 73.76 18-hole average last year, the eighth lowest in program history. She also led the team in rounds below par (7) and count percentage (94%). She finished the season strong with back-to-back 213s, a career-best score which earned her fourth place on both occasions.
Sato (Utsunomiya, Japan) is in her fourth year with the program. Last season she started all 10 tournaments and had an 88.2% count percentage in the spring.
Freshman Kylie Phi (Fountain Valley, Calif.) will be making her collegiate debut. At Fountain Valley High School, she qualified for the CIF South Section Championship three times and was the Sunset Conference MVP.
Kato (Redmond, Wash.) appeared in three tournaments last year as a freshman.
The Aztecs will play 36 holes Monday and 18 Tuesday. Both days will start with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.\
Monday’s forecast calls for a high of 71 degrees with mostly sunny skies. On Tuesday, temperatures will dip and there is a chance of rain.