Santa Clara, Calif. – After a month off from competition for final exams and spring break, the Santa Clara women's golf team returns to the links on Mon., April 8 at the University of Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. It will take place at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.
This will be the first event for the Broncos since March 4-5 when they had a season-best score of 298 in the first round of the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational. "The team is really excited to play this week," said Bronco head coach Krystal Kelly. "We had a good and challenging spring break in prep for the last two tournaments of our season."
The championship field for the three-day Cowgirl Classic includes 19 teams that will try to navigate the par-72, 6,184-yard course. "This is a huge field with 19 teams, so our goal is a top-10 finish," said Kelly. "There are some good teams playing, so I'm looking forward to seeing how we compete."
The Broncos finished ninth out of 24 teams at the same tournament last year and Kelly feels the familiarity with the course will be an advantage. "We've played this course several times. It's a fun course; you just have to avoid the trouble," Kelly noted. "The course is visibly intimidating with 22 water hazards. So, as you can imagine, we will be very process-oriented and target-specific."
Senior Balbina Guajardo and junior Taylor Camany were the top individual finishers at last year's event and both will compete next week. "We played really well last year, so I know the team will be prepared," said Kelly.
And with two tournaments in two weeks after a month off, Kelly has spent the last four weeks getting her squad ready for the final two events of the season. "We've been working really hard on our par-5 scoring and total short game so I anticipate seeing better scoring around the greens," she noted. "The challenge this late in the season is to make sure everyone is injury-free and ready to play."
Following the Cowgirl Classic, the Broncos will compete in the West Coast Conference Championship April 15-17 at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., and whatever happens in the final two events, Kelly knows this, "the biggest thing is we are going to go out there, stick to our game plan, and have fun!"
Cowgirl Classic Tournament Information
Dates: Monday through Wednesday, April 8-10, 2013
Site: Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.
Host: University of Wyoming
Details: All three days will begin with a 6:30 a.m. local time start. Groups will tee off holes one and 10 in nine minute intervals and play 18 holes each day.
Tournament Field (Golfstat ranking): Wyoming (148), Boise State (121), BYU (119), Colorado State (134), Eastern Washington (174), Montana (165), Montana State (197), New Mexico State (161), Northern Arizona (94), Northern Colorado (172), Portland State (102), Sacramento State (154), Santa Clara (127), Seattle (157), Southern Utah (150), Utah Valley (178), UTEP (153), Weber State (160) and Xavier (97)
Course: Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.
Yardage/Par: 6,184 yards/Par 72
Live Stats: http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3517
Website: OcotilloGolf.com
Phone Number: (480) 917-6660
