FULLERTON, Calif. --
ON THE TEE…: Long time, no see. After slogging through a month without a competition, the Cal State Fullerton women's golf team finally returns to the links this week, traveling to St. George, Utah, for the 27th annual Entrada Classic hosted by BYU at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club on March 18-19.
THE COURSE: Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club will play at par 72 and 6,015 yards for this week's event, spanning 54 holes over two days in southern Utah. The tournament begins on Monday with 36 holes and concludes on Tuesday with the final round. Both days will be shotgun starts beginning at 7:30 a.m. PT.
THE FIELD: Alongside the Titans and host Cougars, 13 other teams are scheduled to compete: Boise State, Dixie State, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, Weber State, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
WATCH IT LIVE: Well… sort of. Live scoring for all three rounds will be available at GolfStat.com by clicking on the following link: http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3731
IN THE RANKINGS: Fullerton enters the tournament ranked No. 78 in this week's GolfStat NCAA Head-to-Head rankings (as of March 13), one of four teams competing this weekend ranked in the top 100 behind Big Ten foes Wisconsin (#44) and Minnesota (#66) and ahead of Nevada (#94).
Other rankings include: Boise State (#106), Oral Roberts (#110), BYU (#120), Wyoming (#138), North Texas (#142), Southern Utah (#144), New Mexico State (#157), Montana (#162), Weber State (#173), and Utah Valley (#186).
TITANS IN THE BEEHIVE STATE: Cal State Fullerton will be competing in the BYU Entrada Classic for the second consecutive season, finishing fifth out of 12 teams after the final round was delayed due to frosty conditions. Tisha Alyn Abrea and Taylor Fowler paced the Titans, each shooting 11-over-par 227 to tie for eighth individually. Cal State Fullerton finished with a 23-over-par 924, marking the 10th-lowest score since the program was reinstated in 2009-10. Texas State was the team champion with a 28-over-par 892, finishing eight shots ahead of Oklahoma State.
2012 BYU ENTRADA CLASSIC
TEAM… 302-311-311--924 (5th, +23)
t8. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 75-74-78--227 (+11)
t8. Taylor Fowler… 71-78-78--227 (+11)
t33. Deidre Crabtree… 79-82-77--238 (+22)
t33. Neomi Hunt… 78-82-78--238 (+22)
t41. Seri Lee… 78-77-86--241 (+25)
A LONG TIME AGO…: On a golf course, not so far away. It seems like forever since the Titans last competed, but it was one to remember after Fullerton closed strong to post its second-straight runner-up finish at the 2013 Folino Invitational Presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California on Feb. 17-19 at the Industry Hills Golf Club. The Titans finished 11 shots back of defending champion Gonzaga, improving from a tie for sixth after the first 18 holes and moving up one spot from third place after the second round, flip-flopping with UC Riverside, which trailed Fullerton by four strokes at the conclusion. Sophomore Seri Lee led the Titans with a 10-under-par 223 to finish fourth and led three teammates among the top 20.
FOLINO INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TEAM… 315-305-293--913 (2nd, +61)
4. Seri Lee… 77-75-71--223 (+10)
t9. Neomi Hunt… 80-75-73--228 (+15)
11. Makayla Mier… 76-77-76--229 (+16)
t17. Kristen Aiu… 73-77-82--232 (+19)*
t24. Deidre Crabtree… 82-78-75--235 (+22)
t32. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 82-83-74--239 (+26)
t56. Dakota Brown… 87-83-83--253 (+40)*
t59. Nicole Rivera… 84-88-82--254 (+41)*
68. Nadine Rivera… 89-88-87--264 (+51)*
* competed as an individual
RIGHT 'ROUND LIKE A RECORD: A big part of Fullerton's rally to the runner-up spot at the Folino Invitational was the Titans' final round 293, which tied a tournament single round record set by Gonzaga -- also in the third round -- at the 2012 event. No Fullerton golfer in the lineup shot worse than 76 on the final day en route to the low round, helping the Titans to the fourth-lowest team score in the history of the event, just three shots back of their 2012 score of 210 that stands No. 3 on the list.
LEE LOW: Sophomore Seri Lee's fourth-place finish at the Folino was her third, top-five finish of the season, led by her final-round 71 to jump her four spots in the standings after sitting in a tie for eighth after 36 holes, all the while carding the eighth-best 54-hole score in the history of the tournament (223). The 71 matched her career low round as a Titan -- all coming this season, including twice at the season-opening Washington State Cougar Cup on Sept. 24-25 to help her finish in a tie for second. Lee also has a second-place finish (74-75-71--220, +4) at the Fighting Camel Classic in North Carolina to close out the fall portion of the team's schedule on Oct. 22-23.
IF SHE KEEPS THIS UP…: Lee's current 75.67 scoring average this season would be a new school record if the season ended today, edging out Tisha Alyn Abrea's mark of 75.74 set last season as a freshman. Lee's average is nearly three strokes better than her freshman season average of 78.52 while Abrea's mark of 76.67 this year would rank third.
EVEN KEELED: Sophomore Makayla Mier was steady in her last outing at the Folino Invitational, leading the field with 36 pars over the three-day event, while Seri Lee (34) and Kristen Aiu (31) also finished in the top 15 in the category.
BACK IN THE SADDLE: Fullerton's second-place finish at the Folino marked its fifth top-five finish (and its third in the top three) in six events this season, rebounding from an eighth-place finish at The Gold Rush hosted by Long Beach State the week before -- the team's worst since finishing ninth at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Nov. 1-2, 2011. Over the last two seasons, the Titans have finished in the top five in 11 of their last 15 tournaments, including three victories, two runners-up, and a pair of third-place finishes.
PIN SHOTS:
• While also tying a tournament record, the Titans' final round 293 at the Folino is the second-lowest single-round team total in school history, standing behind Fullerton's first-round 289 at the Fresno State Lexus Classic last season...
• Lee's final-round 71 at the Folino was her team-high fourth round at par or better:
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
Seri Lee -- 71 (-1) -- 3rd Round -- Fighting Camel Fall Classic, Oct. 23, 2012
Seri Lee -- 71 (E) -- 3rd Round -- Folino Invitational, Feb. 17-19, 2013
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
• Fullerton's 892 at the Washington State Cougar Cup to kick-off the season set a school-record for the lowest 54-hole team score since the program was reinstated in 2009-10 while the Titans' 899 from the Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate stands as the third-lowest...
• Four of the top 10 lowest 54-hole team scores since 2009-10 have been carded this season while eight of the lowest individual scores over 54 holes have been set in 2012-13, including Seri Lee's school-record 216 at the WSU Cougar Cup...
• Cal State Fullerton's win at the Rose City Intercollegiate on Oct. 1-2 was the program's third tournament victory since being reinstated and its first since winning the Fresno State Lexus Classic on March 12-13, 2012.