Women’s Golf Preview: The Gold Rush (Feb. 27-28)

Monday, February 27

Seal Beach, Calif. (Old Ranch Country Club)

Monday, Feb. 27 - Tuesday, Feb. 28

Fresno State

Gold Rush Invitational

Women’s Golf Preview: The Gold Rush (Feb. 27-28)

2/24/2017 11:51:00 AM | Women's Golf

The Bulldogs enter familiar territory with its first event since the fall season at the Gold Rush, a place they’ve been the tournament runner-up back-to-back seasons

By: Matt Burkholder / Director of Communications

Fresno State Women's Golf - Tournament #5
Tournament: The Gold Rush
Format: Stroke play/54 holes/5-count-4 (36 holes/Mon.)
Host: Long Beach State
Dates: Feb. 27-28 (Mon.-Tue.)
Golf Course: Old Ranch Country Club (par 72, 6,115 yards)
Location: Seal Beach, Calif.
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

Fresno State Lineup:
1. Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir
2. Mimi Ho
3. Samantha Spencer
4. Yifei Wang
5. Kristin Simonsen
Indi – Joanna Kim

Participants:
Host – Long Beach State (134)
Boise State (200)
BYU (31)
Colorado State (104)
Fresno State (73)
Gonzaga (80)
Idaho (64)
Montana (216)
Nevada (82)
Ole Miss (59)
San Jose State (50)
Santa Clara (79)
UC Irvine (119)
UC Riverside (92)

(All numbers in parenthesis indicate the team's ranking by GolfStat, as of Feb. 22, 2017)

Schedule of Events:
Sunday, Feb. 26 – Practice round
Monday, Feb. 27 – First and second rounds; shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT
Tuesday, Feb. 28 – Final Round; shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT

Gold Rush History:
2016 Champion: USC (863)
2016 Medalist: Robynn Ree, USC (212)

Season Flashback:
• Sept. 12-13: Ptarmigan Ram Classic
Team finish – N/A; Low individual – Kristin Simonsen, T-33 (228)
• Oct. 3-4: Johnie Imes Invitational
Team finish – 2/15 (867); Low individual – Yifei Wang, T-8 (216)
• Oct. 7-9: Ron Moore Women's Intercollegiate
Team finish – 9/18 (885); Low individual – Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, T-12 (217)
• Oct. 23-25: Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
Team finish – 10/19 (573); Low individual – Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, T-15 (140)

Notes:
• The Bulldogs are set to resume their season this Monday-Tuesday with the first of five spring events that will lead into the Mountain West Championships.
• Fresno State was the runner-up at the 2016 Gold Rush and set the fifth-lowest three round score in program history (881). The Bulldogs were also the Gold Rush runner-up in 2015, carding a 902. It was a 15-team field last year and an 11-team field the year before.
• Fresno State was the runner-up to No. 1 nationally-ranked USC at the 2016 Gold Rush.
• The leading returner to the Gold Rush from last year's team is Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, who carded a 3-over-par 219 and tied for a seventh-place finish.
• Bjorgvinsdottir owns a streak of eight-straight events placing in the top 15 dating back to last season
• As a freshman, Mimi Ho tied for the Bulldog low-score at the 2015 edition of the Gold Rush, firing a 223 and finished tied for fifth at the tournament; she would later earn co-Mountain West golfer of the week for that score.
• Of the 14 participating schools, Fresno State currently holds a Golfstat ranking lower than nine others. The No. 73 Bulldogs will be chasing the leader of that poll, No. 31 BYU, followed by No. 50 San Jose State, No. 59 Ole Miss and No. 64 Idaho.
• Fresno State is one of five Mountain West programs playing at the 2017 Gold Rush. There are nine MW women's golf programs.
• Weather at the Gold Rush on Monday (High 59F, Low 45F) is forecasted to have a 20 percent chance of rain and 10-15 mph winds; Tuesday (High 61F, Low 45F) is forecasted to have a 10 percent chance of rain and 10-15 mph winds.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – Follow the team on social media on Twitter at @FresnoStateWG or on its Facebook Page – Fresno State Women's Golf Team.