The women’s golf team began the the 2013 season as four-time defending Big West champions, so expectations and the pressure to succeed were high as soon as the year kicked off.
The team responded impressively and have put together an exceptional fall season. Three top-five team finishes showcased the team’s talent during the quarter, along with a sixth place result sprinkled in. The team never finished worse than 12th in any tournament and won the team event at the Hoosier Fall Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. on Oct. 20 by a combined 16 strokes.
This tournament also brought Betty Chen into the limelight as she won the individual title in Bloomington with a scoreline of 3-under 210 and won the competition by two strokes over the second-place finisher. Chen was awarded October’s Big West women’s golfer of the month in recognition of her tournament victory.
“Betty’s victory was a definite highlight of the fall,” said head coach Anna Temple.
The team finished their fall season at the Stanford Intercollegiate, placing 12th in the team competition. This was a solid finish as the tournament featured nine top-25 teams with three of those inside of the top 10 according to the Golfstat weekly rankings. The Aggies finished the fall season ranked No. 38, a ranking that has steadily increased over the course of the fall season.
Beverly Vatananugulkit finished tied for 23rd individually in Stanford, adding another strong showing to her record. She has finished in the top 30 in individual competitions at five out of the six tournaments played with a third place finish in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.
With Chen and Vatananugulkit leading the way along with senior Jessica Chulya, the team is poised to add another conference championship once play resumes in February. The sustained success of the team combined with the promise of more to come makes them the fall Women’s Team of the Quarter.
