(Editor’s note: SDSU Athletics release)
INDIANAPOLIS – The San Diego State women’s golf team received word of its postseason destination on Wednesday when the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Committee announced the Aztecs will compete in the NCAA Cle Elum Regional, May 6-8, at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash.
SDSU garnered the No. 12 seed for its sixth consecutive regional berth, its ninth in the last 10 years and 16th overall since the regional format was inaugurated in 1993.
Billings native Leslie Spalding is in her 8th year as head coach of the Aztecs.
The Aztecs, who earned an automatic bid after winning the Mountain West Championship on April 18, will be joined at the par-72, 6,306-yard Tumble Creek Club in order of seed by USC, Arkansas, South Carolina, Northwestern, host Washington, Miami (Fla.), Oregon, San José State, Oregon State, Old Dominion, Iowa State, UCF, Ohio State, Sacramento State, New Mexico State, Boston University and Southern Illinois.
The field also includes six individuals who will compete for the right to advance to the NCAA Championships, featuring Polly Mack and Elizabeth Prior from Mountain West rival UNLV, along with Idaho’s Sophie Hausmann, BYU’s Rose Huang, Southern Utah’s Chanikan Yongyuan and Christine Danielsson of UC Davis.
SDSU and San José State were the only two Mountain West teams to earn a regional bid this year. However, the conference will send one other individual to regional competition, with MW individual champion Brigitte Thibault of Fresno State participating in the Auburn Regional at Saugahatchee Country Club, in Opelika, Ala. Meanwhile, the two remaining regionals will take place at Jimmy Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla., and Forest Akers West Course in East Lansing, Mich.
Up in the Pacific Northwest, the Aztecs will play 18 holes each of the three days, following a practice round on Sunday, May 5. The top six squads and three lowest individuals not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for May 17-22, at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
This year marks San Diego State’s 12th trip to a regional event as a team and represents the 16th time the program has sent at least one golfer to the regional round since the format was adopted in 1993.
The Aztecs ended a six-year absence from the NCAAs in 2010, when the squad finished 13th at the Central Regional in Columbus, Ind. SDSU also posted a 17th-place showing at the 2011 West Regional in Auburn, Wash., followed by a tie for 20th at the 2012 East Regional in State College, Pa.
The Aztecs missed out on a team berth in 2013, but qualified three individuals, Paige Spiranac, Christine Wong, Emma Henrikson, to the Central Regional in Norman, Okla. In 2014, SDSU received an at-large bid as a team once again, tying for the 21st position in the West Regional, which was also contested at Suncadia Resort.
In 2015, San Diego State landed in the 11th spot at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Resort in St. George, Utah, before finishing 12th the following year at Stanford Golf Course.
The Aztecs recorded another 11th-place finish at the Lubbock Regional in Texas in 2017, before tying for seventh last season at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Despite recording its highest placement ever in a regional event, SDSU fell one stroke short of forcing a playoff to determine the sixth and final spot from the San Francisco Regional to the NCAA Championships.
The Aztecs, who are still seeking for their first-ever national championship appearance as a team, are currently ranked 39th nationally by Golfweek and 47th by Golfstat.
San Diego State Women’s Golf at NCAA Regionals (started in 1993)
Year Team/Individual Regional (Location) Finish
1996 Lindy Donnelly West (Omaha, Neb.) 32nd
1997 Christelle Cuzon West (Tucson, Ariz.) 42nd
1999 Team West (Houston, Texas) 18th
2000 Heather Rollo West (Tempe, Ariz.) 109th
2001 Team East (Chapel Hill, N.C.) 15th
2004 Team West (Stanford, Calif.) T-15th
2010 Team Central (Columbus, Ind.) 13th
2011 Team West (Auburn, Wash.) 17th
2012 Team East (State College, Pa.) T-20th
2013 Paige Spiranac Central (Norman, Okla. T-19th
Christine Wong Central (Norman, Okla.) T-35th
Emma Henrikson Central (Norman, Okla.) T-57th
2014 Team West (Cle Elum, Wash.) T-21st
2015 Team St. George, Utah 11th
2016 Team Stanford, Calif. 12th
2017 Team Lubbock, Texas 11th
2018 Team San Francisco, Calif. T-7th
