March 26, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Sun Devil women's golf team will host the 2004 PING/ASU Invitational Friday-Sunday, April 2-4 at the par 72, 6,230-yard Karsten Golf Course on the campus of Arizona State University.
The PING/ASU Invitational has been held each year since 1965-66, while ASU has won the tournament in 22 of the 38 years it has been held, most recently in 1999.
THE FORMAT: 18 holes will be played each day with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time from tees No. 1 and No. 10 on Friday and Saturday and at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Second- and third-round pairings are based on team total and individual total within the team. Team ties will be broken by the highest score, while players tied within a team will utilize the previous day's position. The top four scores from each five-person team will count toward the team score.
Admission to the tournament is free for the general public each day.
THE FIELD: This year's PING/ASU Invitational will feature 17 teams including Arizona State, Arizona, California, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Texas, TCU, Tulsa and Washington.
Thirteen of the 17 teams are ranked in the nation's top 35 in the March 28 Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index including No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 California, No. 6 New Mexico, No. 9 USC, No. 10 Arizona, No. 12 Washington, No. 16 Tulsa, No. 17 Texas, No. 24 Stanford, No. 28 Pepperdine, No. 31 Oregon, No. 33 TCU and No. 34 Arizona State.
LAST YEAR'S RESULTS: California captured the 2003 PING/ASU Invitational championship with a three-day total of 12-over par 876, while tournament host Arizona State finished seventh at 40-over 904. UCLA's Charlotte Mayorkas won individual medalist honors last season with a seven-under 209.
Departed senior Blair O'Neal led the Sun Devil effort last year with a tie for ninth place with a three-day total of four-over 220 (73-74-73). Returning Sun Devils include Alissa Kuczka who tied for 35th at 11-over 227 (76-73-78), Erin Tone who tied for 63rd (77-80-76=233), Jamie Michaud who tied for 79th (78-79-84=241) and Beatriz Conti who tied for 87th (81-85-81=247).
THIS YEAR'S RESULTS: Arizona State will provide live scoring for each round of the 2004 PING/ASU Invitational. Fans can follow along with play by logging onto www.golfstat.com. Complete results will also be available following each round on Arizona State's official web site, www.thesundevils.com.