THIS WEEK: Coming off of its third top-four finish of the season, the Cal State Fullerton women's golf team closes out the fall portion of its schedule this week, competing as one of 12 teams at the 18th Annual Fighting Camel Fall Classic hosted by Campbell University on Monday (Oct. 22) and Tuesday (Oct. 23) in Buies Creek, N.C.
THE COURSE: This week's tournament will be played at the 6,026-yard, par-72 Keith Hills Country Club on the Orange and Black Courses. The 54-hole event begins with a shotgun start and 36 holes on Monday at 8:30 a.m. and concludes on Tuesday at 9 a.m. with the final 18 holes.
THE FIELD: Alongside the Titans and host Fighting Camels other teams scheduled to compete include Gardner-Webb University, Longwood University, Old Dominion, Radford, Richmond, Rollins College, St. Francis (PA), Towson, Wichita State, and Winthrop. Host Campbell has won its event 13 times, including each of the last four seasons.
WATCH IT LIVE: Well… sort of. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com for both days. Please visit http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3630 for scores as they become available.
IN THE RANKINGS: Cal State Fullerton enters the tournament ranked No. 68 in the latest GolfStat.com NCAA head-to-head rankings and No. 67 according to the Golfweek poll released on Oct. 18. According to Golfweek, Campbell is ranked No. 34, Longwood is No. 73, Old Dominion is No. 78, and Richmond is No. 84 among the top 100 teams while, in the GolfStat.com rankings, Campbell (No. 39), Longwood (No. 75), Old Dominion (No. 62), and Richmond (No. 91) are among the top 100.
A LOOK BACK: Cal State Fullerton shot the lowest final round of the tournament and four individuals finished among the top 25 to help the Titans to a steady third-place finish at the 2012 Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Wyoming on Oct. 13-14 in Palm Desert, Calif. Fullerton's final round 297 was three shots better than the next-lowest score as the Titans rallied to finish just one shot behind the College of Charleston for second and 14 shots back of champion Fresno State, which shot a tournament-record 885.
COWGIRL DESERT INTERCOLLEGIATE
TEAM… 295-307-297--899 (3rd, +35)
t7. Taylor Fowler… 70-77-76--223 (+7)
t7. Deidre Crabtree… 75-76-72--223 (+7)
11. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 73-77-74--224 (+8)
t25. Seri Lee… 77-77-75--229 (+13)
t55. Makayla Mier… 84-77-79--240 (+24)
TAYLOR-MADE LOW SCORE: Senior Taylor Fowler's first-round 70 in last weekend's tournament in Palm Desert was the lowest round by a Titan this season and matched the record for the lowest single round by a Fullerton golfer since the program was reinstated for the 2009-10 season. Who holds the record? The very same Fowler who set the mark in the first round of the Fresno State Lexus Classic in 2010 and matched it in the same round of the same tournament in 2012.
HEATING UP IN THE DESERT: Fullerton's trip to Palm Desert had the Titans rewriting the record books once again as their team total of 899 marked the third-lowest 54-hole total since 2009-10 while their first round 295 (3rd) and third-round 297 (t5th) scores rank among the top-five single-round team totals in that same span.
WHAT A TRIP: This week's tournament in North Carolina will mark only the ninth time in 29 tournaments since the program was reinstated that the Titans will be traveling outside the State of California to compete, but the third time in four events this season. This week will mark the second-longest trip for the Titans since 2009-10 at approximately 2,218 miles, standing behind only their trip to the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Kapolei, Hawaii, last season that accumulated 2,589 frequent flier miles.
ROUNDS AT PAR OR BETTER IN 2012-13:
Seri Lee -- 71 (-1) -- 1st Round -- Washington State Cougar Cup, Sept. 24, 2012
Seri Lee -- 71 (-1) -- 3rd Round -- Washington State Cougar Cup, Sept. 25, 2012
Taylor Fowler -- 71 (-1) -- 1st Round -- Rose City Collegiate, Oct. 1, 2012
Taylor Fowler -- 70 (-2) -- 1st Round -- Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate, Oct. 13, 2012
Deidre Crabtree -- 72 (E) -- 3rd Round -- Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate, Oct. 14, 2012
TAP-INS:
• Cal State Fullerton's victory at the Rose City Collegiate on Oct. 1-2 was the Titans' third tournament victory -- all coming in the last two seasons -- and the first since winning the Fresno State Lexus Classic on March 12-13, 2012.
• Fullerton has finished among the top five in seven of its last eight tournaments dating back to last season, including two wins, one second-place, and a pair of third-place finishes.
• Sophomore Tisha Alyn Abrea set the school's single-season scoring average (since the program was reinstated in 2009-10) with a 75.74 last season as a freshman, posting five, top-10 finishes and placing among the top 25 in every tournament she competed in during the 2011-12 campaign...
• The top-five single-season scoring averages since the program's reinstatement were all set in 2011-12: Abrea, Taylor Fowler (77.04), Neomi Hunt (77.93), Kathryn New (78.13), and Seri Lee (78.52)…
• Abrea and Fowler became the Titans' first All-Big West Conference honorees since the program's reinstatement as Abrea was named second-team all-conference while Fowler earned honorable mention laurels.