SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's golf is back on the links this weekend to defend their title at the 12-team Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate, contested on the 6,097-yard, par-72 Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. The field will play 36 holes on Saturday with a single 18-hole final round on Sunday.
The Broncos were 5-stroke winners after carding a season-low 882 at last year's event to win their first of three straight team titles. Santa Clara also had a top-5 finish at the CDI in 2015, taking fourth place behind Kristin Le's third-place finish on the individual leaderboard.
"We're really excited to get back out and compete," head coach Krystal Kelly said. "We know Classic Club really well so I'm hoping that will benefit us. There is definitely strategy that comes into play, with a handful of difficult holes. The other potential obstacles we might face include extreme heat and high winds. However, we are already starting to prepare for both."
Senior Kyleigh Moreno, who had her best career finish and 54-hole score at last year's Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate, will play out of the No. 1 spot on the five-player team. She'll be joined by Kristin Le, Chloe Wong, Marni Murez and Sarah Busey.
Freshmen Vanessa Giampaoli and Grace Fitzgerald will compete in their first collegiate tournaments playing as individuals.
"This is the second tournament and second different travel squad for us," Kelly noted. "We have more depth this year so I expect the lineup to change from week to week. For me, it's important to get our freshman class some real time experience in preparation for the rest of our season, because any one of them could make the travel squad."
First round action tees off with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate
Dates (Site): Saturday and Sunday, Sep. 30-Oct. 1 (Palm Desert, Calif.)
Host: University of Wyoming
Tournament Field (12 teams): Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Northridge, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Northern Arizona, Santa Clara, Southern Utah, UC Riverside, Utah Valley, UT Arlington, Wyoming.
Details: Both days will begin with a 7:30 a.m. PT shotgun start. The field will play two rounds of 18 holes on Saturday and one final round of 18 holes on Sunday.
Course: The Classic Club
Yardage/Par: 6,097 yards/Par 72
Website: www.classicclubgolf.com
Results: Golfstatresults.com
