FULLERTON, Calif. --
ON THE TEE…: With the regular season behind them, the Cal State Fullerton women's golf team readies itself for the 2013 Big West Conference Championships this weekend, held at the San Luis Obispo Golf and Country Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif., beginning Sunday (April 21) and running through Tuesday (April 23).
THE COURSE: The San Luis Obispo Golf and Country Club will play at par 73 for the weekend, measuring 6,196 yards for the event. Teams will play 18 holes per day beginning Sunday at 7:30 a.m., Monday at 9 a.m., and Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. This season will mark the third time in four years that the San Luis Obispo Golf and Country Club will host the conference championships.
THE FIELD: Cal State Fullerton enters the championship as the No. 4 seed behind three-time defending champion UC Davis, No. 2 UC Irvine, and No. 3 Long Beach State. UC Riverside, Cal Poly, Hawaii, and Cal State Northridge follow the Titans. The top-seeded Aggies return all five place-winners from last year's championship while the field returns the top 11 scorers from the 2012 event.
CAL STATE FULLERTON BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RECORDS
Best Team Finish: 3rd (2011-12)
Lowest Team Total: 920 (2011-12)
Lowest Single Team Round: 294 (2nd Round, 2011-12)
Top Fullerton Individual Finish: t4th (Taylor Fowler… 76-74-77--227, +11, 2011-12)
Lowest Individual Total: 227 (Taylor Fowler, 76-74-77--227, +11, 2011-12)
Lowest Individual Single Round: 71 (Neomi Hunt, 2nd Round, 2011-12)
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=4236
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?: For more information on the Big West Conference Women's Golf Championship, please visit the Big West's championship page at http://www.bigwest.org/sports/wgolf/info/champs/
IN THE RANKINGS: Cal State Fullerton enters the championship ranked No. 84 in the nation, one of four Big West squads in the top 100: UC Davis (#16), UC Irvine (#62), and Long Beach State (#73). Other Big West schools in the rankings include UC Riverside (#124), Hawaii (#154), Cal Poly (#157), and Cal State Northridge (#162).
A LOOK BACK - 2012 BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: UC Davis clinched its third-consecutive Big West Conference women's golf title in 2012, placing three golfers in the top five, including individual medalist Bev Vatananugulkit, to defeat UC Irvine by 13 strokes.
Cal State Fullerton posted its best finish ever since being reinstated in 2009-10, rebounding from back-to-back seventh-place finishes in 2010 and 2011 to finish third in 2012, led by Taylor Fowler's tie for fourth at 11-over (227) and Tisha Alyn Abrea's eighth-place tie at 13-over (229). All five Titans finished in the top 25 as Seri Lee (T-21st), Kathryn New (T-24th), and Neomi Hunt (T-24th), rounded out the Fullerton lineup as the Titans charged ahead from 5th place after day one and fourth after day two.
2012 BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team… 319-294-307--920 (+56, 3rd)
t4. Taylor Fowler… 76-74-77--227 (+11)
t8. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 77-78-74--229 (+13)
t21. Seri Lee… 82-74-79--235 (+19)
t24. Kathryn New… 84-75-77--236 (+20)
t24. Neomi Hunt… 85-71-80--236 (+20)
NOT A WEEK TO REMEMBER: The Central Valley was unkind to the Titans this past week as defending champion Fullerton was sent to its worst finish of the 2012-13 season, closing in a tie for 10th at the Fresno State Lexus Classic at the Copper River Country Club. The Titans saved their best round for last, firing a final round 304 on Tuesday, to jump two spots after ending the first day in 12th place following 36 holes, but it wasn't enough as Fullerton posted its lowest finish since ending up 10th at the Circling Raven Invitational in Worley, Idaho, to start the 2011-12 campaign.
Sophomore Tisha Alyn Abrea led the charge for the Titans, ending in a tie for 12th at 9-over (225), finishing 14 shots off the pace of individual medalist Simone Hoey of Long Beach State, who carded a 5-under-par 211 for the tournament to win going away. The next-highest finisher for Fullerton was senior Deidre Crabtree, who ended up in a tie for 41st at 16-over (232).
2013 FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC
Team… 306-314-304--924 (+60, T-10th)
t12. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 73-77-75--225 (+9)
t41. Deidre Crabtree… 76-81-75--232 (+16)
t53. Seri Lee… 80-77-78--235 (+19)
57. Neomi Hunt… 77-79-80--236 (+20)
t66. Nicole Rivera… 84-81-76--241 (+25)
RARE: Last week's finish in Fresno marked only the second time in eight tournaments this season that the Titans have failed to finish in the top four.
SCORE!: Cal State Fullerton's average score of 306.29 is the third-lowest in the league entering the conference championships, trailing only UC Davis (295.61) and UC Irvine (303.95). The Titans are also only one of four Big West teams to win a tournament this season behind Long Beach State's three wins and joining Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge with one apiece.
BY "THIS MUCH": It's a battle of the sophomores for the team scoring lead as Seri Lee is edging out Tisha Alyn Abrea by 0.37 in scoring average entering this weekend's championships. How much is 0.37? Lee and Abrea are separated by a mere nine strokes this season: 1,822 for Lee to 1,831 for Abrea.
IRON WOMEN: Abrea and Lee have carried the load for the Fullerton lineup this season, standing as the only two Titans to have competed in all eight tournaments and all 24 rounds in 2012-13. The dynamic duo has combined for seven top-10 finishes this season.
PIN SHOTS:
• Abrea's second-round 71 at the BYU at Entrada Classic made her only the fourth Titan to shoot a round at par or better this season…
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
Tisha Alyn Abrea -- 71 (-1) -- 2nd Round -- BYU at Entrada Classic, March 18, 2013
• Fullerton's second-round 298 in Utah is tied for the eighth-lowest single-round score since reinstatement while the 913 total for 54 holes is tied for sixth…
• Kristen Aiu's T-17th finish at the Folino Invitational on Feb. 17-19 -- her first appearance of the year -- is the lowest finish by a Titan competing as an individual this season…
• 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...
• Five of the top 10 lowest 54-hole team scores since 2009-10 have been carded this season while 10 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.
