SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women’s golf team will travel across the country to play in Georgia’s Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic April 8-9. This will be the Aztecs’ final regular season tournament before the Mountain West championships April 15-17.
SDSU is the only west coast school in the 12-team field which features four SEC schools (No. 48 Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and No. 34 Oklahoma). Also competing are Augusta, Georgia State, Colorado State, UT-Chattanooga, No. 35 Georgia Southern and UAB.
The Aztec lineup will be Ema Narita, Maya Benita, Kylie Phi, Stephanie Barbaglia and Emilia Omander.
Narita has been SDSU’s best golfer in the spring, averaging 73.46 strokes per 18 and has led the Aztecs in three of their four spring tournaments. She is just one-over-par over the last two tournaments and has risen 69 spots in the national rankings over that span.
Benita is having an impressive spring season and had a career best performance at the Causeway Invitational (Feb. 24-25) when she tied for ninth with a one-over par 217. Across the last three tournaments, she is averaging a three-over-par 219.
Phi just won her school record third Mountain West Freshman of the Week award after shooting a career low three-over-par 219 at Hawaii’s Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational. She has SDSU’s second best 18-hole average in the spring (74.0).
Stephanie Barbaglia is the highest ranked Aztec and has the best 18-hole average on the year (73.52).
Emilia Omander rounds out the lineup for the Aztecs. She had her best showing at the San Diego State Classic with a personal best 224 (+8). She has appeared in every tournament this spring and will be making her fourth straight start.
This is the third straight season SDSU has played in this tournament. Ema Narita led SDSU last year with a six-over-par 222 which tied for 24th.
The University of Georgia Golf Course is par 72, par 35 front nine and 37 on the back, and 6,217 yards. The tournament gets underway Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. PT with a shotgun start. SDSU will be paired with Colorado State and UAB and start on holes 11-14 and play a continuous 36 holes. Wednesday’s final round will also start with a 5:30 a.m. PT shotgun start.
This is the 53rd edition of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and is one of the oldest sporting events in all of women’s intercollegiate athletics.
The forecast calls for minimal wind and clear skies with cool mornings and temperatures reaching the low 60s.