The Seattle University women’s golf team departs early Thursday morning for Mesa, Ariz., to take part in the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship April 25-27 at Longbow Golf Club.
Over the same course last year, Seattle U finished in sixth place, with senior Nicole Gaddie (Salt Lake City, Utah) and sophomore Amanda Beyke (Federal Way, Wash.) returning to the championships for the second straight year. They will be joined by sophomore Juhee Lee (Manhattan, Ore.) and freshmen Dorsey Addicks (Big Sky, Mont.) and Jamie Huo (Kent, Wash.) at this year’s conference tournament.
“The players have worked hard all year, seeing some success. We are not far off from having a chance to compete with the other league schools. The team seems ready to play their best golf of the year,” Seattle U head coach Marc Chandonnet said.
Beyke has been the team’s most consistent golfer during the spring season with a stroke average of 78.5 over the past four tournaments, spanning 11 rounds. She has shot 76 in four of her last five competitive rounds and is looking to improve upon a 34th-place finish at last year’s WAC Championships (83-79-86 = 248).
Gaddie brings a wealth of conference championship experience into this weekend’s tournament, having played in the West Coast Conference Championships in 2011 and 2012 while Seattle U was an affiliate member of the WCC. Last year, she opened with a 74 and finished in a tie for 21st place at 231 (74-80-77). She has played in every tournament for the Redhawks this year, finishing in a tie for 10th place at the Santa Clara Colby Invitational in October and a tie for 12th place at the South Dakota State Jackrabbit Invitational last month.
Lee brings the team’s best scoring average of the year into this weekend’s conference championships at 78.25. She finished in a tie for second place at the Lamkin Grip Cal Poly Invitational in late October with rounds of 74 and 72, plus she finished in a tie for 12th place at the Santa Clara Colby Invitational the previous week.
Huo is just behind Lee in scoring average at 78.68 heading into the weekend. She finished in a tie for ninth place at the Lamkin Grip Cal Poly Invitational and in a tie for 17th place at the Red Rocks Invitational hosted by Northern Arizona University, shooting 152 in both tournaments. She opened the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic with a 75, but she is hoping to be more consistent with her scores.
Addicks has played in seven tournaments for the Redhawks this year, including the last three in a row going into the WAC Championships. Compiling a scoring average of 80.0, she finished in a tie for 12th place at the Santa Clara Colby Invitational and in a tie for 25th place at the Lamkin Grip Cal Poly Invitational.
As a team, the Redhawks are coming off a tournament in which they posted their second- and third-best single-round scores of the year just over two weeks ago at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. Seattle U is fourth among eligible teams in the conference in scoring average (314.7) and third among eligible squads in both the Golfstat rankings and the Golfweek ratings.
Because an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is on the line for the teams, Grand Canyon will not compile a team score, but five Antelopes will play as individuals in the tournament. Bakersfield, Chicago State, Idaho, Kansas City, New Mexico State, Seattle U, Texas-Pan American, and Utah Valley will compete for the WAC title and the automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
The WAC Women’s Golf Championship is scheduled to tee off at 7 a.m. Friday, April 25. Seattle U golfers will begin at 8:40 a.m. from the first hole in the final five groups of the first round, playing with competitors from New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American.