This Week in Women's Golf - Sep. 16
This Week in Women's Golf - Sep. 16
Complete Release (PDF)
TICKETSMARTER WAC WOMEN'S GOLFER OF THE WEEK ANNOUNCED
California Baptist's Sofia Chabon has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week for September 8 through September 14.
Chabon, a junior from Northern Mindanao, Phillipines, helped lead the way for the Lancers at the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial, shooting a 4-over-par 217 to tie for fourth among 84 golfers. After shooting a 4-over-par 75 in the opening round, she responded with a par of even-par 71s to climb the leaderboard. As a team, the Lancers took second in the season-opening event, shooting a 30-over-par 882 to finish eight strokes back of Oral Roberts.
Other nominees: Tarleton's Sofia Rodriguez led the Texans in their season-opening tournament, shooting a 22-over-par 235 at the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial … UT Rio Grande Valley's Sophia Tejada tied for 38th at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic with a 17-over-par 330 to lead the Vaqueros … Utah Valley's Lauren Taylor was the Wolverines' top finisher at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic, shooting a 7-over-par 220 to take 13th amongst 100 golfers.
ON THE TEE
The final program to make its season debut will take this week as Grand Canyon heads to Wisconsin for the Badger Invitational in Madison, beginning on Sunday. Seattle U and Utah Valley will also tee off on Sunday, traveling to Northern Idaho for the Coeur d'Alene Collegiate Invitational. On Monday, Dixie State heads north to the Weber State Fall Invitational and Sam Houston travels to Manhattan, Kan. for the Marilyn Smith Sunflower Invitational.
BY THE NUMBERS
With 11 of the 12 teams having competed this fall, Sam Houston holds the top stroke average at 277.7 per round. California Baptist is second at 294.0, followed by Seattle U in third at 297.7. Individually, it's a Bearkat sweep in the top three with Zulaikah Nasser posting a 67.0 average followed by Jennifer Herbst (67.7) and Anna Takahaski (70.0).
UPPING THE COMPETITION
The WAC will be in a unique situation this season with two teams having earned automatic qualifications to NCAA Regionals in May. NM State will be the defending WAC champions, having won the 2021 Championship by seven strokes at Boulder Creek GC before earning a top-10 finish at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional. Sam Houston also earned an automatic selection after winning the Southland Conference Championship by 19 strokes over Central Arkansas. The Bearkats were unable to compete in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional after wet weather made the course unplayable. Senior Hanna Alberto still advanced to the NCAA Championship, becoming the first SHSU golfer to play at the final site.
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 now has six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and will have three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools joined the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP HEADS TO THE LONE STAR STATE
Originally the site for the canceled 2020 WAC Women's Golf Championship and for the first time since 2004, the WAC Championship heads to Texas as Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville will play host to the conference tournament on April 18-20, 2022. Designed by Byron Nelson and Joe Finger, Riverhill has been host to over 40 USGA and Texas Golf Association events.