FULLERTON, Calif. --
THIS WEEK: Coming off its best finish of the young 2013-14 season, the Cal State Fullerton women's golf team heads east to the "Land of Enchantment" to compete as one of 14 teams at the 14th annual Price's "Give 'Em Five" Intercollegiate tournament hosted by New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M.
THE COURSE: This week's event will be held at the 6,258-yard, par-72 New Mexico State Golf Course. Teams will play 18 holes per day during the three-day event, with an 8:30 a.m. (MT) shotgun start each day.
THE FIELD: In addition to the Titans and host Aggies, the tournament field includes Idaho, North Texas, UTEP, Nevada, Boise State, BYU, Cincinnati, Utah Valley, Tulsa, Portland State, UC Irvine, and Wyoming.
IN THE POLLS: Cal State Fullerton, ranked No. 74 this week in GolfStat.com's NCAA Head-to-Head rankings, is the second-highest ranked team in this week's field, standing behind only No. 71 Tulsa and entering the tournament as one of four teams ranked in the top 100, joining Nevada (#93) and Idaho (#97). Rankings for the remainder of the field include: Cincinnati (#109), Portland State (#111), UC Irvine (#113), North Texas (#115), New Mexico State (#116), BYU (#120), Wyoming (#132), Boise State (#148), UTEP (#165), and Utah Valley (#207).
WATCH IT LIVE: Well, sort of… Live scoring will be available for this week's event via the GolfStat website at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=4601.
TITANS' ABREA NAMED BIG WEST GOLFER OF THE MONTH: Cal State Fullerton junior Tisha Alyn Abrea posted a pair of top-10 finishes to lead the Titans in their first two events of the season and garner Big West Conference Golfer of the Month honors for September. It is the first career honor for Abrea and the second for the women's program after Taylor Fowler was honored in February of 2012.
Abrea opened the season with a tie for eighth out of a field for 64 at the Minnesota Invitational, rebounding from a first-round 78 to shoot 75-74 over the next 36 holes to finish at 11-over (227). She followed that up two weeks later with the best 36-hole score in school history, shooting a season-best 71 in the final round to finish 2-over (146) and in a tie for third at a rain-shortened Rose City Collegiate in Aurora, Ore.
THIS IS GETTING TO BE A HABIT: Abrea's finish in Oregon marked her third-consecutive top-10 finish dating back to last year's Big West Conference Championships and the fourth, top-five finish of her career -- tying her with Taylor Fowler (2009-13) and current teammate Seri Lee for the most in school history. Coupled with her finish in Minnesota, Abrea also has 15 career top-20 finishes in 20 career tournaments, placing her one back of Fowler for the most by a golfer in school history since the sport returned to campus in 2009-10.
SWEET SWEDE: Cal State Fullerton freshman Martina Edberg, a native of Glumslov, Sweden, posted her best finish as a Titan in Oregon last week, finishing in a tie for 10th at the Rose City Collegiate. A big part of her rally up the leaderboards on the final day was her school-record tying 70 (-2) over the final 18 holes -- 10 better than her first round 80 -- to finish with a 6-over-par 150. Edberg's 70 is the lowest by a Titan since Taylor Fowler, who shot 70 three times in her career, carded the same score at the Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate on Oct. 13-14 of last season.
MADE TO BE BROKEN: Or at least come close. Fullerton's final round 294 in Oregon last week is tied for the third-lowest single-round score since the program was reinstated and was the lowest since the Titans shot a 293 at their own Folino Invitational last season. The 609 team total at the Rose City Collegiate is also the lowest 36-hole score since reinstatement, and the program's first such score since the 2011 Folino Invitational.
A LOOK BACK AT THE WEEK THAT WAS: Standing in 11th place after a rain-shortened first day, the Cal State Fullerton women's golf team stormed up the leaderboard last week, shooting the second-lowest team score of the day and finishing fourth at the 2013 Rose City Collegiate hosted by Portland State at the Langdon Farms Golf Course in Aurora, Ore. Shortened to only 36 holes after torrential rain wiped out an entire round on Monday, the Titans were 21 shots better on day two, shooting a team score of 294 to challenge eventual team champion Oregon State (293) for low-round honors. Fullerton finished with a 33-over-par 609 to trail the Beavers (+10, 586) and second-place finishers Gonzaga and UC Irvine, which tied at 24-over (600). The Titans placed three golfers in the top 20: Tisha Alyn Abrea, Martina Edberg, and Seri Lee, while Makayla Mier finished in a tie for 49th and Kate Cho ended up in a tie for 75th.
2013 ROSE CITY COLLEGIATE
Langdon Farms Golf Course • Aurora, Ore. (Par 72)
Team... 315-294=609 (+33, 4th)
t3. Tisha Alyn Abrea… 75-71=146 (+2)
t10. Martina Edberg… 80-70=150 (+6)
t20. Seri Lee… 81-73=154 (+10)
t49. Makayla Mier… 79-80=159 (+15)
t75. Kate Cho… 88-80=168 (+24)
STRAIGHT FROM THE COACH'S MOUTH: Listen as Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Pearl Sinn-Bonanni previews her team's 2013-14 season in stunning HD via the lens of team videographer Matt Brown. Access the entire interview on Cal State Fullerton's YouTube page at youtube.com/csfathletics or by clicking here.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER: The summer of 2013 proved to be a bountiful one for four Titans, who excelled on the course to stay sharp for the 2013-14 campaign. Junior Seri Lee was the runner-up at the CPT State Farm Collegiate Open with a 1-under-par 215, finishing the tournament as only one of two golfers under par behind Columbia's Michelle Piyapattra, who won the event with a 6-under-par, 210. Fellow junior Tisha Alyn Abrea also posted a runner-up finish, ending in a tie for second at the 92nd annual Los Angeles City Women's Championship with a 4-over-par 146, just one shot back of the tournament champion. Junior Makayla Mier qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, finishing in a tie for 101st (+14) and missing out on the top 64 that advanced to match play. Finally, freshman newcomer Martina Edberg -- the first international Titan since the program was reinstated in 2009-10 -- spent the summer as a member of the Swedish National Team, helping her country to the title at the European Championships.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TITANS: Fullerton returns five golfers for the 2013-14 campaign, including its top-three scorers from a season ago in juniors Tisha Alyn Abrea, Seri Lee, and Makayla Mier. The Titans are looking to build off a fifth-place finish at last season's Big West Conference Championships after a regular season that saw them finish among the top four teams in six of their eight events.
TIP-INS
-- Fullerton's fourth-place finish last week in Oregon marked the eighth time in its last 11 events that the Titans have finished in the top five dating back to last year…
-- Edberg's 70 and Abrea's 71 at the Rose City Collegiate marked the first two rounds at par or better by a Titan golfer this season.