Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Golf Heads to Las Vegas
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Oct. 26, 2006
On the Next Tee
The Colorado State women's golf team heads to Henderson, Nev., to compete in the Las Vegas Founders Collegiate Showdown. UNLV is hosting the event, which will feature three rounds of play starting on October 30. Unlike previous tournaments, in which two rounds were played together on the opening day, each day will feature independent 18-hole rounds. Live scoring of each round will be available at www.golfstat.com.
The Field
The 17-team field for the Founders Collegiate Showdown features six teams ranked in Golfweek's top 20 team rankings. Along with Colorado State, the field includes: #7Arizona, #3Arizona State, BYU, Eastern Washington, Kent State, Missouri, #19Oklahoma State, Oregon State, #11Pepperdine, #14Southern Cal, Texas A&M, TCU, #8UCLA, UC Irvine, UNLV and Washington.
Claussen Shoots Collegiate Best
The Colorado State woman's golf team finished in tenth place (311-304-308=923) at the Price's Give `Em Five Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M. The Rams were led by freshman Kasey Claussen, who not only carded her best individual round in her collegiate career, but also her best three-round tournament score. Claussen fired rounds of 79, 72 and 75 for a 226 total and finished tied for 17th place. Junior Chelsea Benton finished tied for 19th place, one stroke behind Claussen, after carding rounds of 73, 80 and 74 for a three round total of 227. Junior Megan Chapman completed play tied for 42nd place (79-75-79=233) and redshirt freshman Natalie Stone (80-77-80=237) finished tied for 62nd place. Senior Amber Ward, back from injury, finished in 76th (83-80-80=243).
Host school New Mexico State won the event after posting rounds of 304, 292 and 294 for a total score of 890. NMSU was lead by top individual finisher Lehua Wise, who shot rounds of 72, 72, and 70 for a three-round score of 214.
Benton's Vegas Magic
In last year's Las Vegas Founders Collegiate Showdown, Chelsea Benton broke the school record for lowest single-round score and had her best individual finish of her collegiate career. Benton fired a 67 in the second round of the event to set the Colorado State record and went on to finish with a three-round score of 210, which is the second best individual tournament score in school history. Her third place finish was her personal best finish in a collegiate tournament; Benton has since added another third place finish to her resume at this year's Ron Moore Intercollegiate.
Experienced Rams
Four golfers on this year's team competed in last year's Founders Collegiate Showdown. Along with the aformentioned Chelsea Benton, Megan Chapman, Amber Ward and Stefanie Ferguson all played in last year's event.