WATCH | EYEBRONCO: Women's Golfers Annie Freman, Meghan Shain on 2015 WCC Championships
WATCH | EYEBRONCO: Women's Golf Head Coach Krystal Kelly on 2015 WCC Championships
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara head coach Krystal Kelly likes the chances of her women's golf team at the West Coast Conference Championship despite entering the event as the underdog. The three-day tournament begins Monday on the 6,085-yard, par-72 Saticoy Country Club in Somis, Calif.
In the 18-year history of the event only Pepperdine and San Francisco have been winners with the Waves capturing the crown 16 times overall, including the last 13. USF won the inaugural event in 1997 and again in 2001. The Broncos have never finished higher than third in the tournament's history and aim to improve on their fourth-place finish from a year ago.
"The WCC has been really strong this year," Kelly stated. "On any given day any one of these teams can beat the other."
All five golf playing schools will compete in the event with Pepperdine once again the overwhelming favorite with the rest of the field bunched close together. The Waves enter ranked 21st in the recent Golfweek.com poll while the Broncos were No. 107. Gonzaga enters ranked 50th with San Francisco at No. 77 and BYU at No. 82.
The Broncos competed with USF and BYU in their last regular season event at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic and finished just behind both teams. "We saw BYU and USF this past weekend so that was a good test for us to see where we compare to them and I was happy with where we finished," Kelly said.
Freshman Kristin Le will play as the No. 1 golfer at the WCC Championship. "Kristin's been very consistent," Kelly said about her first-year player. "She's very positive and upbeat out there and it's been fun to see."
Sophomore Annie Freman has played all 27 rounds this season leading the team with a 75.81 average and six top 10 finishes. She finished tied for fifth at the Cowgirl Classic at 4-over 220, her best 54-hole score of the season. "Annie brings a lot of consistency," Kelly said. "She's a good ball-striker and it's fun to see her hit a lot greens."
Juniors Meghan Shain, Ashley Noda, and Monique Riley make up the rest of the Broncos lineup.
"The biggest thing is going to be patience and keeping our game simple," Kelly noted. "We've been working a lot on the short game this year so hopefully they can rely on that to help them score well."
Live scoring for the tournament is available at www.golfstatresults.com or click the link provided on the Bronco's website.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: WCC Championship
Dates (Site): Monday-Wednesday, April 13-15 (Ventura, Calif.)
Host: West Coast Conference
Tournament Field (rank): BYU (82), Gonzaga (50), Pepperdine (21), San Francisco (77), Santa Clara (107).
Details: A single 18-hole round will be layed each day for a total of 54 holes. Monday's first round will begin with pairing teeing off from the first hole starting at 8:20 a.m.
Course: Saticoy Country Club
Yardage/Par: 6,085 yards/Par 72
Website: www.saticoycountryclub.com
Course Number/Address: (805) 485-4956
Live Scoring: www.golfstatresults.com
