During this week of rain and wind, the members of the Portland State women’s golf team will have the warm Hawaiian sun at their backs during their final three days of fall play.
The Vikings begin play today at the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational in Kahuku, Hawaii, for their fifth and final tournament before breaking for the winter.
As a team, the Vikings are also on a record-setting pace with a 306.1 scoring average—less than the full-season record of 310.1 that was set last season.
Junior Tiffany Schoning leads Portland State with a 75.40-stroke scoring average. Schoning is on pace to break the school record of 76.37 also set last season, by then-freshman Britney Yada. With a 77.8 average, Yada is ranked third on the team, and senior Kalyn Dodge is in second with 77.11. Senior Alexia Brown is setting a career-best pace of 78.60.
Two freshmen on the team have been sharing the fifth spot in competition. Lauren Taylor and Loren Forney—who average 78.25 with 80.43, respectively—are starting their first year nicely. Forney has shot 77 three times and Taylor has a season-low of 75.
Portland State finished eighth at the Circling Raven Invitational, third at the Rose City Collegiate and fourth at the Heather Farr Memorial. Their team total of 897 at the Rose City Collegiate is second-best in school history and is the best ever under head coach Kathleen Takaishi.
Located on the island of Oahu, the Invitational at Turtle Bay will be a 54-hole event on two separate sets of links. Tuesday and Wednesday, the tournament will use the 6,361-yard Arnold Palmer Course. The final round on Thursday will be played on the 6,261-yard George Fazio Course.
Competing for the Vikings in this tournament will be Dodge, Yada, Brown and Taylor. The team will return in February for The Gold Rush at Yorba Linda Golf Club in Yorba Linda, Calif.
Brigham Young, at 62nd in the latest GolfWeek rankings, is the highest-ranked team competing in the tournament. The Vikings, ranked 111th out of 254 Division-I programs, will also face hosts Hawaii as well as British Columbia, Princeton, Southern Illinois and UC Irvine.
Live scoring for the Turtle Bay Invitational will be available at www.golfstat.com. ?