Women’s Golf Heads To WCC Championship Starting Thursday

Duong Tran and Krystal Kelly

Posted: Apr 17, 2019

VIDEO: Women's Golf Coach Kelly Previews WCC Championship | WCC Championship Central

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's golf heads to the three-day WCC Championship tournament beginning Thursday. Teams will play a single 18-hole round over each day on the 6,081-yard, par-71 Manito Golf and Country Club layout in Spokane, Washington.

All five golf playing schools in the conference will compete in the event with BYU looking to defend its title from the past three years.

"We saw the course for the first time today (Wednesday)," head coach Krystal Kelly said of the Manito track. "It's good, but you definitely need to be in specific spots on the greens. Ultimately we need to stay patient and focus on the process."

Pepperdine is the highest ranked team in the conference at No. 28, according to Golfstat.com. The Waves have captured the title 17 times in the 22-year history of the tournament.

The Cougars are ranked No. 77 with the Broncos at No. 102. San Francisco (114) and Gonzaga (125) complete the five-team field.

VIDEO | @scucoachkelly previews this week's @WCCsports Championships in Spokane. The team enters on a roll having finished 3rd (@FresnoStateWP Classic) & 2nd (@wyo_golf Cowgirl Classic) at last 2 tournaments. #StampedeTogether #WCCChamps pic.twitter.com/sj2zCiFgAY
— SantaClaraWomensGolf (@santaclarawgolf) April 17, 2019

The Broncos have played well in their tournaments leading up to the conference championship, and they are the only WCC program with a 54-hole tournament victory this season. The Broncos captured the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational back in October.

Led by their top three of sophomores Sarah Busey, Emily Sumner, and freshman Claire Choi, who all placed among the top-10, the Broncos grabbed a third-place finish at the Fresno State Classic on April 2 carding the second- and third-lowest 18-hole team scores in program history.

Santa Clara finished one-shot off the lead at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in its final regular season tournament, scoring below 300 in all three rounds for the first time in the spring portion of the season.

Busey extended her string of consecutive sup-par rounds to five and earned a career-best finish by sharing runner-up honors. Sumner claimed her fifth top-10 of the season with a solo ninth and Choi finished 16th.

Junior Marni Murez and freshman Duong Tran complete Santa Clara's five-player team.

"It's nice to have some momentum coming into this tournament," Kelly said.

The first round of the 23rd WCC women's golf championship gets underway Thursday with tee time starts at 8 a.m. Live scoring updates will be available at Golfstat.com.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Name: WCC Championship

Dates (Site): Thursday-Saturday, April 18-20 (Spokane, Wash.)

Host: West Coast Conference

Tournament Field (Rank): BYU (77), Gonzaga (125), Pepperdine (28), San Francisco (114), Santa Clara (102)

Details: The field will play a single 18-hole round over each of the three days with a tee time start beginning play. A total of 54 holes will be played with the low four of five scores counted for the team total.

Course: Manito Golf and Country Club

Yardage/Par: 6,081 yards/Par 71

Website: www.manitocc.com

Results: Golfstat.com