Arizona State Ping Invitational Up Next For Women's Golf
April 5, 2000
SCHEDULE: The Beavers will head to Tempe, Ariz. for the Ping/ASU Invitational on Apr. 7-9. The tournament will be played on the par 72 Karsten Golf Course on ASU's campus. Play begins at 8 a.m. Pacific time on Friday and Saturday, and at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.
LAST YEAR: Oregon State placed 13th, shooting 949. Erin Borcherts lead the Beavers with a three-round total of 234. Host Arizona State captured the tournament title, while ASU's Grace Clark won the individual honors. The tournament has a 34-year tradition, dating back to the 1965-66 season.
THIS WEEK'S TEAM:
Anne Brooksby (Jr., Portland, Ore.) Finished tied for 8th at Rainbow Wahine, best finish of season ... shot season-low 73 there ... played in all seven tournaments this season ... finished tied for 40th at last week's Dr. Thompson's Invitational ... averaging 78.6 strokes per round ... shot 242 in last year's ASU tournament.
Carina Olsson (Jr., Sollentuna, Sweden) Finished tied for 16th in Rainbow Wahine in Fall ... averaged 79.2 strokes in four tournaments ... low of 75 ... tied for 26th at Dr. Thompson's.
Rachel Borcherts (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) Averaging 78.1 strokes per round in six tournaments ... tied career low of 72 in NCAA Fall Preview earlier this year ... has four top four finishes in her career ... tied for 44th at Dr. Thompson's ... shot 246 last year at ASU.
Stacie Ferguson (Fr., Tucson, Ariz.) Played in three tournaments, best finish tied for 36th at Ihlanfeldt ... averaging 79.2 strokes ... low of 75 on the year.
Brie Del Bone (So./Tr.-Nevada/Eugene, Ore.) Playing in her second tournament since transferring from Nevada during winter break ... shot 10-over 226 in Arizona Invitational earlier this spring ... averages 75.3 strokes to lead team.
Reena Eklund (playing as individual, score will not count toward OSU team score) (Sr., Medford, Ore.) Best finish tied for 27th at Ihlanfeldt with 237 ... shot 232 at Stanford in fall, including two rounds of 77 ... low of 76 (twice) ... averages 80.0 strokes per round.
THE FIELD (rankings from MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, Mar. 29) The field will have 15 teams this week, all of which are ranked in the top 50 in the Mar. 29 MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Five teams are in the top 10 in the nation, four of which are from the Pac-10. The competition: Arizona (No. 1), Arizona State (3), USC (4), Stanford (6), New Mexico State (9), San Jose St. (12), Tulsa (17), New Mexico (21), UCLA (22), TCU (24), Oregon (31), Cal (35), Washington (37), Texas A&M (41), and Oregon State (47).
The field also includes 40 ranked individuals, including the top two collegiate golfers in the country in top-ranked Jenna Daniels of Arizona and Miriam Nagl of Arizona State. Ten of the top 15 collegiate golfers will play in the Ping/Arizona State Tournament.
HEAD COACH RISE LAKOWSKE ON THE TOURNAMENT: "I think this is where we need to turn the corner, and we'll either do it with this group or we'll see where we need to make a change. We'll have an opportunity to play the rest of the kids the following week at Stanford, so if there are any areas where we need to make a change, we will. We've been making changes all year long."
LAST ACTION: The Beavers tied for ninth place at the Dr. Thompson's Rainbow Invitational at the Olomana Golf Course in Oahu, Haw. OSU shot a 964 over the three days. Carina Olsson tied her season low with a 235, including a final-round 77 to tie for 26th. With its eighth-place finish, OSU now has three top-ten finishes for the year.
ASU'S KARSTEN GOLF COURSE SIMILAR TO TRYSTING TREE: "ASU is much more similar to Trysting Tree than any other golf course we play all year, which is helpful," said Lakowske. "We have to play Trysting Tree so many times during the winter because of the lack of drainage on other courses in the area, they're just too wet. Trysting is wide open, and ASU is wide open, so that can be something that we see as a strength."
The NCAA Regionals will be held at ASU's Karsten Golf Course this year, so OSU will have a preview of how the course will play. "This is an important event for us to see how these kids do down there," Lakowske said. "It will let me know if this is the group that we want to play, and it gives us a preview of the regional tournament, which is the last step before nationals."
FERGUSON PLAYED WELL DURING BREAK: "Of the kids that were here during the time we were gone (at Hawaii), Stacie Ferguson was playing well," Lakowske said. "We had some rounds scheduled for them, and she played very well. I kind of anticipated that because she was striking the ball well when we left. She went home over spring break to Tucson and got a chance to play a lot there, so she came back strong.
"Erin Borcherts is hitting the ball much better than she was. I didn't put her in the lineup yet, but she's going to play at Stanford the following week."
THE COACHING STAFF: Head coach Rise Lakowske is in her 10th year as head coach of the Oregon State women's golf program. During her tenure, Lakowske has elevated the Beavers to national prominence after years of obscurity in women's golf. Under her guidance, Oregon State has reached six consecutive Western Regionals. Lakowske was named Far West District Coach of the Year in 1998 when her team tied for 10th at the NCAA West Regional and 16th in the NCAA Championships.
Lakowske played in four National Golf Championships while golfing for Oregon State from 1973-77. She won four tournaments during her career, as well as several non-collegiate events. She played professionally until 1981.
Born in Laurel, Miss., Lakowske began playing golf when she was eight years old. Now, as a coach, she is known for her rapport with her student-athletes, and impresses on her student-athletes the importance of setting team and individual goals as well as striving for success in the classroom.
Brian Watts returned to Oregon State this year after five years in private business. Watts coached at OSU as an assistant during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. After playing on the Golden State Tour, Florida State Tour and the Canadian PGA Tour for four years, he brings back tremendous experience to the OSU program. He also worked as an assistant professional at the DeBell Golf Course in Burbank, Calif., and at Golf Classics of America in Beverly Hills and San Dimas.
Watts graduated from Western Oregon University in 1989 with a bachelor of science in physical education. He also attended Oregon State.
