CSU Starts 2022-23 Season at Badger Invitational, Sept. 18-20

Tournament: Badger Invitational
Dates: Sept. 18-20, 2022
Host: University of Wisconsin
Location: Verona, Wis.
Course: University Ridge Golf Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 6,248 yds
Host Web Site: https://uwbadgers.com
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/3eQau5h
Tournament Field (13): Colorado State, Wisconsin, Delaware, East Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, North Florida, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Rutgers, UC Davis, Washington State

Next on the Tee:
                Colorado State will open the 2022-23 campaign in Verona, Wis. at the 2022 Badger Invitational. Hosted by the University of Wisconsin, the three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at University Ridge Golf Course (Par 72 - 6,248 yards). The Rams will go start Friday off No. 10 at 9:20 am MT and play with UC Davis and individual invitees.

Lineup for the Badger Invitational:
The Rams are in the play-five, count-four event this week at University Ridge Golf Course. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.              Panchalika "Friendly" Arphamongkol
2.             Andrea Bergsdottir
3.             Lacey Uchida
4.             Sofia Torres
5.             Gabby Minier

Handicapping the Field In Wisconsin:
                Joining Colorado State in the season opener are host Wisconsin, Delaware, East Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, North Florida, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Rutgers, UC Davis and Washington State.

Par Four On Badger Invitational:

This will be the second consecutive year that CSU has played in the Badger Invitational, finishing sixth of the 12 teams last season.
Of the 13 programs competing, five had participants as either a team or individual in the 2022 NCAA Regionals (North Florida with a team, Indiana, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Old Dominion with individuals).
In the field, 10 of the 13 teams finished 2021-22 ranked in the top 125 nationally according to Golfstat, with three in the top 75, including No. 45 North Florida, No. 69 Nebraska and No. 71 Washington State.
A Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design, University Ridge Golf Course was the longtime host to the PGA Tour Champions' American Family Insurance Championship and has hosted numerous NCAA golf and cross country regionals.

CSU History In Badger Invitational
9/19-21/2021              6th/12       302-296-291=889

Last Time Out:
                Colorado State slipped in the final round and finished eighth at the 2022 Mountain West Women's Golf Championship Wednesday. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by the Mountain West, was played at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club (Par 72 – 6,270 yards) in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

                The Rams were unable to keep the momentum going from Tuesday's round and shot a 17-over 305 in the final round and finished at 45-over 909. No. 5 San Jose State cruised to a 30-shot team victory, finishing at 4-under 860 ahead of runner-up New Mexico at 26-over 890. Fresno State was third at 27-over 891, with Boise State (28-over 892) and No. 50 UNLV (29-over 893) completing the top five teams.

               Freshman Lacey Uchida was the leader for CSU with at tie for 15th at 9-over 225. Sophomore Sofia Torres was next at 11-over 227, tied for 21st with teammate junior Andrea Bergsdottir. Junior Gabby Minier completed her competition at 14-over 230, with freshman Pemika Arphamongkol rounding out the team scoring at 21-over 237, tied for 40th. Natasha Andrea Oon of San Jose State led from start-to-finish, as the No. 6 player in the country won medalist honors by seven shots with a 10-under 206.

                "We are definitely disappointed at how we played today," head coach Laura Cilek said. "We were in a good spot to make a move going into the day, and we did not capitalize on it. Looking at the big picture, it was a great year of development for us. We have the entire roster returning next year, and I am confident, with the hard work we put in over the summer, that we will be ready to get out and compete again in the fall."

Last Time At the Badger Invitational:
                Colorado State again showed its growth by shooting the third-best final round and moved up the leaderboard to finish sixth at the 2021 Badger Invitational, Sept. 19-21. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of Wisconsin, was played at University Ridge Golf Course (Par 72 – 6,302 yards) in Verona, Wis.

                Playing in windy conditions for the third day, CSU started the round strong, making the turn from back to front at 2-under par. The front 9 are the most challenging on the course and CSU held on with a 5-over score to shoot a 3-over 291 to finish at 25-over 889. The Rams improved from round to round in the event after a 14-over 302 in the first round followed by an 8-over 296 in the second round and then Tuesday's 291. SMU shot the low round of the day, a 4-under 284, to move from fifth to win the team title at 11-over 875. Notre Dame was second at 13-over 877 following a 1-over 289 on the final 18. Old Dominion was third at 17-over 881, followed closely by Wisconsin (882) and Washington State (883) completing the top five teams.

                "I am proud of the way we handled ourselves in tough conditions," head coach Laura Cilek said. "We moved up the leaderboard the last couple days when most the teams moved down, and that shows the grittiness we have on our team."

               Colorado State had three players in the top 20 individually, led by freshman Lacey Uchida and sophomore Sofia Torres at 4-over 220 in a tie for 10th. Torres shot her first under-par round on the season with her 2-under 70 in the last 18, matching teammate Panchalika "Friendly" Arphamongkol with the 2-under score. For Friendly, the score moved her into a tie for 20th at 6-over 222. Junior Andrea Bergsdottir was next at 13-over 229 in 41st, while freshman Pemika "Fancy" Arphamongkol was the final CSU player at 23-over 239 in 62nd. Old Dominion's Federica Torre won medalist honors at 3-under 213, one shot ahead of teammate Leah Onosato.

               "It was a strong week for our team," Cilek continued. "I think we showed ourselves we can compete with anyone when we trust our game plan, play with confidence, and have fun out there. Lacey, Friendly, and Sofia all shot under par this week which should give them a nice confidence boost going into our next event."

Last Season Highlights

The 2021-22 team average of 298.93 is second on the CSU chart for single-season average and lowest versus par.
The first and third rounds for the Rams in the FAU Paradise Invitational were the low for the season and tied for the sixth lowest rounds in program history.
CSU's even-par 54-hole total of 864 at FAU was the fourth lowest score ever for the Rams.
Sofia Torres shot a 4-under 214 at the FAU Paradise Invitational, which tied for the 10th best event performance ever.
The Rams have three top-10 and 15 top-25 individual finishes this season, with the top-25s going to five separate players (Panchalika Arphamongkol, Andrea Bergsdottir, Gabby Minier, Sofia Torres and Lacey Uchida).

Fast Five On the 2022-23 Season:

This is the first tournament for the Rams this season.
In battling on a national level, the Rams will play in each of the four mainland time zones this year, along with competing in Hawai'i.
Head coach Laura Cilek is in her fifth year as leader of the Rams and welcomed Brady Campbell as her new assistant coach.
CSU returns the top six scorers from last year, including three who rank in the top 10 in career scoring (Andrea Bergsdottir-4th, Sofia Torres-7th, Gabby Minier-10th).
Junior Andrea Bergsdottir was part of the three-player team that represented Iceland in the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship.

On the World Stage:
                Three Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1700 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of Sept. 14. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player     WAGR
Sofia Torres           1117
Andrea Bergsdottir              1120
Lacey Uchida        1644

Getting It Done In the Classroom:
                Four CSU golfers were named to the 2021-22 Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar team as the association announced its annual honors. Panchalika Arphamongkol, Gabby Minier, Pemika Arphamongkol and Lacey Uchida all earned the honors this past year.

               The criteria to be named an All-American Scholar includes a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50. Overall, 1,506 women's collegiate golfers were recognized with the prestigious All-American Scholar honor.

              Along with those four, Thea Bjerkelo and Romina Villanueva were honored as one of CSU's 161 Mountain West Scholar Athletes. To be eligible for the 2021-22 Scholar-Athlete team, student-athletes must have completed at least two semesters or three quarters at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

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