SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara University women's golf program, coming off an impressive season a year ago - which included a pair of team titles – announced their 2012-2013 schedule today. The fall season is highlighted by an expanded field at SCU's Colby Invitational, hosted at Sliver Creek Country Club in San Jose, October 22- 23.
"We are all really excited about our 2012-2013 tournament schedule," said third-year Santa Clara head coach Krystal Kelly. "We'll be traveling more than we have in the past few years. I think it will be a good test for the team, since we'll be playing against some of the top teams in the country. More specifically, our first four tournaments starting in February will be the toughest stretch of tournaments we have seen."
As mentioned, the spring season will be extremely challenging, with the team travelling to Southern California twice while also playing in two of the Bay Area's top events, Stanford's Peg Barnard Invitational, February 15-16, and San Jose State's Julie Inkster Invitational, March 4-5.
Kelly guided the Broncos to consecutive team titles last fall, winning SCU's Colby Invitational and Cal Poly's Lamkin Grip Invitational. The 2012-13 team is armed with proven returners and past tournament winners, senior Balbina Guajardo (Monterrey, Mexico) and junior Taylor Camany (Salinas, Calif) pictured. Guajardo led the team in scoring average last season while Camany garnered recognition as an All-West Coast Conference selection, both athletically and academically.
In honor of former Santa Clara coach and administrator Marygrace Colby and long-time University professor Bill Kahl, the Broncos will host the SCU Colby Invitational, bringing in 11 teams including: Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Nevada, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Seattle University, Montana State, UC Riverside, IUPUI and Cal State Bakersfield.
Looking to fill the void left by graduated senior, three-time All-WCC honoree Tamara Surtees (Waikoloa, Hawaii), will be sophomores Kaci McCartan (Plano, Tex.) and Casey Briggs (Portland, Ore.) and juniors Brooke Stephens (Durham, Calif.) and Morgan McClure (Tucson, Ariz.).
Additionally, the Broncos' incoming class includes some of Northern California's top young players in Sadie Strain (Arbuckle, Calif.), Monique Riley (Pleasanton, Calif.), Ashley Noda (Roseville, Calif.) and Southern California star Meghan Shain (Bakersfield, Calif.).
The Broncos will officially open practice in early September in preparation for their season-opener September 24-25 in Pullman, Wash. at the 2012 WSU Cougar Cup.
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