SEATTLE - The Seattle University women's golf team is gearing up to kick off the season at the Leadership and Golf Invitational, which they will co-host with the University of Washington from September 14-15 at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash.
The Redhawks' roster consists of Melissa Gilloz, Blayne Brown, Zoe Rubichon, Jeanne Padillo, and Carly Ikei, while Niya Friesen and Ayesha Baron will be competing as individuals.
This will be Melissa Gilloz's third season with the Redhawks, following a season where she finished as high as 14th individually at the Diamante Intercollegiate, and shot a career-low round of -3 under, 69.
Sophomore Blayne Brown looks to continue a strong inaugural campaign, in which she finished in the top 10 on three separate occasions, including a second-place finish with a career-low round of -3 under, 69 at the Bobcat Desert Classic, helping propel Seattle U to a team win. At the West Coast Conference Championship she placed 16th overall.
Fellow sophomore Zoe Rubichon had a similarly successful first season, where she finished in the top 10 twice including tying Brown for second at the Bobcat Desert Classic, also with a career-best round of -3 under, 69.
Junior Jeanne Padillo looks to improve on a solid season last year, where her highest finish was 19th place at The Nashville Invitational.
This will be Carly Ikei's first appearance as a Redhawk, and her second season of collegiate competition. Last year while competing for Western Washington, she placed second individually at the Grisham Memorial Shootout. At the end of the season, she was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, as well as First Team All-GNAC.
Freshman Niya Friesen will be making her collegiate debut, following a successful high school career, including being named Southwest Saskatchewan golf district champion in 2022 and 2023, received the MJT Regional Order of Merit in 2023 and competed for her province from 2023-25 in the Junior Americas Cup.
Last season, junior Ayesha Baron competed in the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational.
The Leadership & Golf Invitational was founded in 2022 as the Pacific NW Invitational before changing its name beginning in 2023. UCLA won the team championships in its inaugural year while USC won the team title in 2023 and 2024. Last season, the competition was won by Eastern Michigan with a team score of -5 under, 859.
Chambers Bay Golf Course itself is a highly historic course. It was converted from a sand-and-gravel quarry in 2007, and has since hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2010, the U.S. Open in 2015, the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2022, and will host the 2027 U.S. Junior Amateur and 2033 U.S. Amateur in the coming years.
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