Preview: Rams travel west for The Gold Rush

Feb. 20, 2016

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A week after facing BYU in a duel, Colorado State will play in its first tournament of the spring season this week, competing in The Gold Rush in Seal Beach, Calif. The two-day tournament begins Monday at Old Ranch Country Club and is hosted by Long Beach State.

PREVIEWING THE GOLD RUSH:

Hosted by Long Beach State.
Par-72 course, 6,097-yards
The teams will play two rounds on Monday and one on Tuesday. Action begins at 9 a.m. MT both days with a shotgun start.
The field features 15 teams: Boise State (Mountain West), Boston College (ACC), BYU (West Coast), Cal Poly (Big West), Cal State Fullerton (Big West), Fresno State (Mountain West), Gonzaga (West Coast), Idaho (Big Sky), Long Beach State (Big West), Nevada (Mountain West), Ole Miss (SEC), Sacramento State (Big Sky), UC Irvine (Big West) and USC (Pac-12).
CSU's national ranking of No. 68 is the third-highest in the field. The two ranked ahead of CSU are USC (No. 1 nationally) and BYU (No. 25).

RECAPPING DUEL VS. BYU:
CSU opened the spring season with a loss to No. 28 BYU, 878-861, in Phoenix, Ariz. Despite the loss, CSU's three-round score of 878 was the eighth-best in school history, giving the team its third top-10 all-time finish of the season.

BYU's Annie Yang won the tournament, shooting a 3-under 210. CSU junior Elisabeth Rau led all Rams golfers with a 4-over 217 (fourth), followed by Allie Andersen (5-over 218; sixth), Brianna Becker (8-over 221; ninth), Sarah Archuleta (9-over 222; 11th), Katrina Prendergast (10-over 223; 12th), Riley Leming (15-over 228; 13th) and Mikayla Tatman (18-over 231; 14th).

Rau's three-round total of 214 tied a career best, which has been done on two other occasions. She shot a 1-under 70 in Round 1, which also tied a personal best. Sophomore Allie Andersen carded a par-71 during Round 1 Friday, helping the Rams to a 5-over 289 through one-third of action. Sarah Archuleta and Katrina Prendergast had strong finishes, shooting a par-70 and 2-under 69 during Round 3, respectively. Leming made her season debut, competing as an individual. She had nine birdies, the second-most among the 14 golfers and only trailing Rau, who had 11. Rau also led all golfers by shooting three strokes under par on Par-3 holes.

MOVIN' ON UP
CSU began the season ranked 102nd nationally, but after a strong fall season jumped all the way to No. 68 in this week's GolfStat rankings. The Rams jumped 29 spots in one week following the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational and Ron Moore Women's Intercollegiate.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH YOUNG
(on the team's preparation since the fall season)
"We've been doing a lot of technique stuff. They've just been working hard, and I've really seen a difference in the weight room. They're getting stronger and have a different attitude. They have some high goals for this semester, so it's fun to see them pushing each other."

(on the team's self-motivation)
"This team wants to get better, and I see that every day. This week I told them that if they worked hard in the weight room they wouldn't have to run, and they did. But then they still went and ran on their own. That's the difference from this team and teams I've coached at other places. They're self-motivated, which is huge strides from where we were when I got here."

(on CSU's first tournament since late October)
"Every team has a layoff, so we're not experiencing anything that others aren't. We have challenges with the snow, but other teams have different challenges, and thankfully we have good facilities that allow us to still get good practice in. It's important during the layoff that they recharge. Golf is such a mental game that I told them it was important to do that, and I think that will help them this spring. We're playing a really good schedule this semester, which will show us how we can play against the best."

(on team goals)
"Our measurable goal is that we want to make regionals. We have to do the little things in order to do that. That's the ultimate goal, and in order to do that we have to come ready to play and be ready to compete each week. We've talked a lot about preparation and attitude; we focus on those two things because they're things that we can control."

A CUT ABOVE
This season, CSU has already set school records for single-round and tournament scores, but the team is also on pace to shatter the previous best team scoring average. The Rams are on pace to finish the season with a team scoring average of 299.60. The current best of 301.73 was set in 2008-09. Contributing to the low figure is the fact that five of CSU's six golfers hold individual stroke averages that would currently rank among the top 10 in school history.

RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
CSU had a record-breaking performance at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown (Oct. 25-27), setting school records for a single round and tournament, in addition to several other highlights:

Team score of 15-under 849 was a school record, shattering the previous best by 14 strokes (863 on Sept. 14, 2010).
CSU shot under par during all three rounds, including a school-record 279 (9-under) during Round 2. The Rams also shot a 283 (fourth) and 287 (T-10th).
All five golfers shot under par at least one round during the tournament.
Freshman Katrina Prendergast's three-round total of 210 (6-under) marked the third-best score in school history. During Round 2, she tied a program record with a 5-under 67.
Sophomore Allie Andersen carded a 3-under 213, tied for the 10th-best tournament score in school history.

FALL REWIND
Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown - Set school records for a tournament (15-under 849) and single-round (9-under 279), with all five golfers setting or tying career bests for a round and tournament. Overall, the Rams placed 11th out of 19 teams, with Katrina Prendergast (6-under 210) and Allie Andersen (3-under 213) carding the third- and 10th-best individual scores in CSU history.

Ron Moore Women's Intercollegiate - Finished in fourth place out of 18 teams (8-over -872), finishing with the program's lowest score and best finish - at the time - since 2009 (fourth-best in school history at the time). CSU improved every day, shooting the field's second-best score during the final round (1-over 289). Three Rams finished in the top 20, led by sophomore Allie Andersen (T-5th; 1-under 215).

Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational - Finished ninth out of 13 teams (55-over 919), despite being ranked behind 11 of them entering the competition. CSU totaled the fourth-best Round-3 score in the field, moving up several spots on the final day. Elisabeth Rau paced CSU with her fourth career top-20 finish (T-12th; 9-over 225).

Rose City Collegiate - The Rams rebounded from a 35-over on Day 1 to finish sixth out of 15 teams (42-over 906). Mikayla Tatman carded a 1-over 73 in Round 3, helping her tie for 23rd place out of 84 competitors (10-over 226). Katrina Prendergast shot par in the first and third rounds, tying for 21st overall (9-over 225).

Ptarmigan Ram Classic - CSU opened the fall season with a seventh-place finish out of 17 teams in its home tournament, led by top-20 performances from Sarah Archuleta (T-8th; 4-over 220), Elisabeth Rau (T-15th; 6-over 222) and Mikayla Tatman (T-15th; 6-over 222). The Rams entered the final round tied for second and Rau was just one stroke off the lead.

YOUNG APPOINTED TO NCAA COMMITTEE
CSU head women's golf coach Annie Young has been named to the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee. The four-year appointment extends through the 2018-19 academic year. As part of the committee, Young will make monthly conference calls, select teams for regionals and evaluate potential rules changes, in addition to other tasks. In the spring, she will travel to regionals and the NCAA Championship, representing the NCAA.

"I'm honored that I get to play a role in the progression of women's golf," Young said. "I'm most excited to learn how everything works. It will be neat to be part of the selection process, and to learn more about the most-efficient way of scheduling."

RETURNING RAMS
CSU returns one of its most-experienced lineups, bringing back five of its six competitors from last season. Then-freshman Allie Andersen and sophomore Elisabeth Rau competed in all 10 tournaments for the Rams, with Andersen holding a team-best stroke average of 74.8. She had two top-10 finishes, while Rau had one. Freshman Sarah Archuleta had a team-best round of 69 at the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational. Junior Riley Leming competed in five tournaments for CSU, while Mikayla Tatman participated in seven.

In addition to the five returners, the Rams signed a pair of prep golfers - Antonia Frisia (Turin, Italy) and Katrina Prendergast (Sparks, Nev.), and added Hawai'i transfer Brianna Becker. Prendergast and Becker played prominent roles for the Rams during the fall season, including Prendergast's school-record-tying 69 at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
Five of CSU's six golfers from 2014-15 earned Mountain West Academic All-Conference honors for holding a cumulative grade-point average above 3.0, with four of them on the Rams' 2016 roster. Additionally, Mikayla Tatman was named an All-American Scholar by the Women's Golf Coaches Association. The national honor is Tatman's second (also in 2013), and dating back to 2004, at least one Rams golfer has been a recipient. In the classroom, Tatman is pursuing a degree in human development and family studies and holds a 3.64 GPA.

LABARBERA JOINS YOUNG'S STAFF
Former Rams standout Jessa LaBarbera wrapped up her playing career last spring, but she didn't have to wait long - or go far - for her next golf opportunity. CSU Head Coach Annie Young announced the addition of LaBarbera in July, joining Young's staff as assistant coach. LaBarbera, a native of Allen, Texas, began her collegiate career at CSU in 2011. In total, she competed in 32 tournaments, including 21 of 22 over her final two seasons. In 2014-15, she tied a career best with a score of 72 in the Silverado Showdown, and at the Gold Rush Invitational, finished a career-best 16th place (228).

2014-15 HIGHLIGHTS

Finished sixth at the 2014-15 Mountain West Championships, a 13-stroke improvement from the prior year.
Freshman Allie Andersen had the Rams' top individual performance at the MW Championships (222), finishing in a tie for eighth place, the Rams' highest since 2012.
Andersen and sophomore Elisabeth Rau earned Mountain West Golfer of the Week honors, CSU's first multiple-recipient season since joining the MW in 1999-2000.

NEXT ON THE TEE
CSU's next tournament will be in two weeks (March 7-8), once again in California. The Rams will play in the Bay Area Intercollegiate, in San Francisco.

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