Friday, September 27, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – The GNAC women’s golf fall 2013 season peaks next weekend with Saint Martin’s and Western Washington hosting their annual invitational tournaments. 

SMU, WWU, Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene will all participate in both tournaments, marking the first time this season more than two GNAC teams will meet in the same event.

Montana State Billings wraps up its fall session with four rounds of action in a five-day stretch, as the Yellowjackets will participate in the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Sunday and Monday, and then take on Rocky Mountain College in a dual match on Oct. 2-3.

The Vikings received three votes in the latest Golfweek coaches poll, released Wednesday.

WEEK 2 REVIEW

GNAC women golfers were relatively quiet this week, as WWU and MSU Billings were the only teams to see action. The Vikings and Yellowjackets traveled to Durango, Colo. to participate in the Western New Mexico Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

WWU had an encouraging showing, as the team placed fourth overall with a score of 617 through two rounds. The Vikings’ Kristen Hansen (So., Spokane, WA – Mead) finished one stroke behind the tournament co-champions, as her rounds of 70 and 78 earned her GNAC Red Lion Female Golfer of the Week honors.

Capri Ingram (Sr., Livingston, MT – Park Senior) was the top finisher for MSU Billings, as she followed a 79 in round one with a 78 in the second to total 157. The Yellowjackets finished in 12th place as a team, turning in a two-day total of 648.

COMING UP

The SMU and SFU women will see their first action of 2013-14 next weekend as the Saints welcome three other GNAC schools to Olympia for their invitational.

NNU will return to the course in the Saints’ Invitational for the first time since it kicked off the season with a dual match against the College of Idaho on Sept. 11.

Golfers will have just one day off after the Saint Martin’s Invitational concludes next Saturday, as the WWU Invite begins round one on the morning of Oct. 7.

NOTABLE

Hansen’s first round score of 70 at the WNM Invitational this week tied the GNAC record for lowest single round as she became the first Viking in GNAC era history to post the figure…Kalli Stanhope of MSU Billings and Kimberly Vivian of SMU both set the single-round mark at 70 in the fall of 2011…Hansen and teammate Anna Bourland (Jr., Bainbridge, WA – Bainbridge), the Vikings’ top two returning golfers, both averaged 80.8 last season in nine events.

FALL SCHEDULE

September – 29-30: MSUB at Rocky Mountain College Invitational. October – 2-3: MSUB vs. Rocky Mountain College Match Play. 4-5: WWU, SFU, NNU & SMU at Saint Martin’s Invitational. 7-8: SFU, SMU, NNU & WWU at Western Washington Invitational. 14-15: NNU & SFU at Victoria Invitational. 21-22: WWU at Sonoma State Invitational. 28-29: SMU at Dennis Rose Invitational; SFU at Hawaii Hilo Shootout.

Rocky Mountain Invitational GNAC Records

54-Hole Total – 219, Kalli Stanhope, MSUB, 72-70-77 (Sept. 25-26, 2011)

Single Round – 70, Kalli Stanhope, MSUB (Sept. 25, 2011)

54-Hole Total, Team – 931, MSUB, 305-301-325 (Sept. 25-26, 2011)

Single Round, Team – 301, MSUB (Sept. 25, 2011)

Saint Martin’s Invitational GNAC Records

36-Hole Total – 148, Sophie Elstrott, WWU, 73-75 (Oct. 7-8, 2011)

Single Round – 73, Sophie Elstrott, WWU (Oct. 7, 2011)

36-Hole Total, Team – 619, WWU, 309-310 (Oct. 4-5, 2010)

Single Round, Team – 309, WWU (Oct. 4, 2010)

Western Washington Invitational GNAC Records

36-Hole Total – 147, Sophie Elstrott, WWU, 72-75; Katie Sharpe, WWU, 73-74 (Oct. 11-12, 2010)

Single Round – 71, Anna Bourland, WWU (Oct. 9, 2012)

36-Hole Total, Team – 604, WWU, 298-306 (Oct. 11-12, 2010)

Single Round, Team – 298, WWU (Oct. 11, 2010)

RESULTS

Western New Mexico Invitational (Sept. 23-24 at Hillcrest GC, Durango, CO): Team Scores – 1. Chico State 613 (321-292) 4. Western Washington 617 (302-315) 12. Montana State Billings 648 (328-320). Individual Scores (Top 30) – T-1. Arinda Bhanaraksa, CSU Monterey Bay 147 (74-73) T-1. Audra Kepler, CSU Monterey Bay 147 (77-70) 3. Kristen Hansen, WWU 148 (70-78) T-16. Anna Bourland, WWU 154 (73-81) T-24. Capri Ingram, MSUB 157 (79-78) T-30. Brooke Branigan, WWU 158 (80-78).

2013 RED LION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Sept. 9-15 – Katie Fish, MSUB. Sept. 23-30 – Kristen Hansen, WWU.