April 7, 2006
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With the WCC Championships on the horizon, the Santa Clara women's golf team will tune-up one last time by taking part in the Peg Barnard Collegiate this weekend at the Stanford Golf Course. The 14-team field will play 18 holes each day on the 6,168 yard, par 72 course. Both days will feature a shotgun start for the squads, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday.
Comprising the rest of the 14-team field this weekend will be host Stanford, California, Hawaii, Fresno State, Denver, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Ohio State, San Francisco, Oregon State, Portland State, San Jose State, and Washington State. Admission to the event is free for the public.
For the Broncos, ranked 108th in the nation, this weekend's tournament is a chance to make a statement against a well-regarded field and gain momentum for the WCC Championships, scheduled for April 17-18 in Copperopolis, Calif.
Santa Clara has continued the momentum created in its final tournament last fall, in which the team finished second at the Cal Poly Invitational. Since that tournament, the Broncos have captured top-five finishes in three of the four competitions they have played in, including a third-place effort at the Santa Clara Colby Invitational just over three weeks ago.
Megan Stoddart and Candice Palmer have each turned in top-10 finishes in the spring, with Stoddart finishing tied for fifth at the Colby, while Palmer notched a sixth-place effort at the Lady Braveheart Challenge in February and a 14th-place finish at the Colby. Corey Utsurogi also made her way into the top-20 at the Colby, finishing 19th.
"The girls are going to play their hearts out and we are going to just try to relax and have some fun in our last two events," head coach Polly Schulze said. "The pressure is certainly not on us in the Stanford event so staying relaxed should not be a problem. The team is fired up to end the season strong."
In last year's Peg Barnard, the University of Washington claimed top team honors carding a two-round score of 587 while Washington State's Kim Welch won the individual title (140) for the second year in a row.
