This Week in WAC Women's Golf - April 8
This Week in WAC Women's Golf - April 8
GCU'S LUAFALEALO NAMED TICKETSMARTER WOMEN'S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Lani Luafalealo has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week for March 31 through April 6.
Luafalealo, a freshman from Honolulu, used a pair of eagles to take second at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Maricopa, Ariz. Shooting a 1-under-par 71 to open the tournament, she used a 4-under-par 68 in the second round to move up the leaderboard. Despite a 2-over-par 74 in the final round, she still finished just two strokes out of the lead for her second top-5 finish of the season. On the year, she holds the WAC's second-best stroke average at 74.08.
Other nominees: Dixie State's Abby Livingston tied for 12th overall at the Cardinal Challenge, shooting a 12-over-par 228 … NM State's Pun Chanachai led the Aggies to their first team title of the season, taking fifth at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic with a 1-under-par 215.
ON THE TEE
It's the final week of the regular season with a multitude of tournaments across all time zones. On Sunday, Grand Canyon and NM State will tee off at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Monday brings two more tournaments as California Baptist, Dixie State, Seattle U and Utah Valley are all scheduled to play in the Bobcat Desert Classic in Goodyear, Ariz. while Tarleton travels north tot he Oral Roberts Spring Invtational in Broken Arrow, Okla. Finally, Chicago State tees off for the first time this season at the Women in Golf Collegiate Championship just outside Atlanta.
BY THE NUMBERS
Individually, GCU's Siripatsorn Patchana holds the lead in individual stroke average at 73.7 per round and teammate Lani Luafalealo and Payton Fehringer are second and third respectively at 74.1 and 74.5. As a team, Grand Canyon leads the way with a 298.2 average. California Baptist is second at 300.2 and Seattle U is third at 300.3.
IT'S BIGGER IN TEXAS (AND UTAH)
On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools will join the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE PLAYED IN NEVADA
The 2021 WAC Women's Golf Championship will be played at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev. Made up of three nine-hole courses, the course is considered by many to be one of the top municipal golf courses in the country. Scenic vistas, cool creeks, colorful wildflowers, and smooth beach bunkers add to the lure of this unique golf course.