Women’s golf is one of the most successful athletics programs at Portland State. The team is the reigning Big Sky Conference champion and has won six conference titles since 2003.
Women’s golf is one of the most successful athletics programs at Portland State. The team is the reigning Big Sky Conference champion and has won six conference titles since 2003.
The 2010–11 season was one of the best in the program’s history. The Vikings won a second straight conference title and played in the NCAA West Regional competition. The team also had three first team All-Big Sky Conference selections.
This season, 2011 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year Kathleen Takaishi has once again set her sights on the title.
“The team has set a goal to win the conference championship again this year,” Takaishi said.
Takaishi has won three Big Sky titles in her four years at Portland State.
So far this season, Portland State’s best result was a joint second place finish among 22 teams at the Circling Raven Collegiate Invitational hosted by Gonzaga at the Circling Raven Golf Course in September 2011. Since then, the Vikings haven’t finished in the top half of their tournaments—but that isn’t a reason for despair.
“I am pleased with our progress,” Takaishi said. “We are a very young team. The important thing is for the players to gain experience and learn from their mistakes. We will keep getting better as the year goes on.”
Takaishi believes that some of her players will be key to finishing strong in the 2011–12 season. These include junior and school scoring record holder Britney Yada.
“Britney Yada played well last week,” Takaishi said. “She always plays well in the spring. She has the best scoring average on the team.”
Yada was named the Big Sky Conference Golfer of the Week last week after her performance at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational. She had finished 21st overall. She currently leads the roster with an average score of 76.93 this season and was the 2011 conference individual champion.
Other key players include senior and two-time medalist Tiffany Schoning and freshman Kelley Miller.
“Tiffany Schoning had a great fall season. I anticipate her to have an even better spring,” Takaishi said. “Kelly Miller has gained some confidence from the fall season. I see her stepping up and competing for one of the top spots.”
Last week, the Vikings finished 13th out of the 14 teams at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by University of Arizona at the Golf Club at Vistoso in Tucson, Ariz. The Vikings’ score was 3322-308-333=973, beating only Big Sky rivals Northern Arizona, who finished last. The top scorers for Portland State were Yada (227), Schoning (242) and Miller (246).
In the coaches’ preseason poll in January, Portland State were picked to finish third this year behind Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.
“It is still very early,” Takaishi said. “Although we didn’t play as well as we would have liked, there were positives to take from last week. Last week was a great opportunity to be in the same tournament as the defending national champions, UCLA.”
This weekend, the team will play in the Peg Barnhard Invitational at the Stanford Golf Club. Takaishi feels that the team has been practicing well and will be ready for the game.
“We are working on short game and the mental game,” she said. “Each player knows what they need to work on, and we are focusing on that.”
