Huskies Head to Prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate
September 25, 2015 | Women's Golf
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SEATTLE – Fresh off a season that was one for the record books, the Washington Huskies Women's Golf Team opens the 2015-16 season this weekend at one of the toughest fall tournaments of the year.
The new-look Dawgs squad, which features two seniors and five freshmen, will compete at the prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M, Sept. 27-29. The 54-hole stroke play event will take place at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla. and will feature 12 of the top programs in the country.
The field includes reigning National Champion Stanford, USC, UCLA, Duke, Arkansas, UCF, Arizona, South Carolina, LSU, Texas A&M and Tennessee. All but one of those teams competed at the 2015 NCAA Women's Golf Championships alongside Washington.
“It's a really tough field,” said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “It's probably one of the best fields we will see all year so it's great to jump in right away with both feet and kind of see where we are against those teams. It will be good for our freshman to see what it takes to play at that level. It's nice to get a tournament in before school starts that's a definite positive for us.”
The Huskies will be sending their two seniors, Ying Luo and Charlotte Thomas along with three freshman, Wenyung Keh, Julianne Alvarez and Sarah Rhee. Luo and Thomas both competed in the NCAA Championships a year ago with Thomas earning Washington's top finish, placing tied for 12th.
“We have great leadership with our seniors,” added Mulflur. “We expect them to perform just beautifully. They have great experience competing at this level and have been a great asset to our freshmen heading into this tournament."
The three newcomers competing for the Huskies, Keh, Alvarez and Rhee, all have experience winning at a high level. Alvarez comes to Seattle with the 2015 New Zealand Women's Stroke Play Championship under her belt. She was ranked first for her age group in Wellington and took home the 2015 New Zealand Amateur Championship. Keh is also one of the top ranked amateurs to come out of New Zealand, having won numerous events on the Charles Tour along with earning the title at the 2015 New Zealand Under-19 Championship. Additionally, Rhee is the reigning WIAA 3A State Champion out of Ingraham HS.
“All three of these freshmen have experience at high level competition, so we feel good about them handling the tough field this weekend,” said Mulfur. “Obviously it's different when you're on a team, that will be the biggest difference for them. But they just need to play their game and that will be what we stress to them, just go out and play golf.”
Leading up to the first tournament of the fall, the whole team spent a week in Sun River, Ore., where they competed in a qualifier to determine the roster for this tourmanent and spent valuable time helping the newcomers adjust and learn what collegiate life will be like once school starts. Both Thomas and Luo embraced their leadership roles spending the week answering questions and reminiscing about their first year at UW.
"Charlotte and Ying showed tremendous leadership and really took the freshmen under their wing, answering a lot of questions and not being put out by their questions. That's the kind of leadership that you want. They were there once too so they know but they are also very cognisant of their role in this program and at the end of the day, know what they need to do out on the course."
Following the tournament in Florida, the Huskies return home to host the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational at Sahalee Country Club on Oct. 6-7.
Players Mentioned
