March 16, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State University freshman Louise Stahle will play as an amateur in the Safeway International, an LPGA Tour event, this weekend in Superstition Mountain, Ariz. The Safeway International will be held Thursday-Sunday, March 17-20 on the par 72, 6,260-yard Prospector Course at the Superstition Mountain Country Club.
The top-ranked collegiate player in the country, Stahle won the Safeway International Amateur Open in February to earn a spot in this week's LPGA Tour event. She tied with 14-year-old Taylore Karle of Scottsdale after shooting a 68 in the amateur event and edged Karle on the third hole of the playoff.
She will tee off at 1:46 p.m. from Hole No. 1 in Thursday's first round and at 8:06 a.m. from No. 10 on Friday. Stahle's ASU teammate, junior Alissa Kuczka (Phoenix, Ariz.), will serve as her caddy during the Safeway International.
Stahle, who came to ASU from Lund, Sweden, where she was the top-ranked junior player in Europe, has finished in the top 10 in five events this season for the Sun Devils. She turned in runner-up finishes in each of her first three tournaments this fall and won the first event of her Sun Devil career at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson on February. She is the first Sun Devil to be ranked No. 1 in the country since All-American Miriam Nagl in 2000.
Stahle will join several former Sun Devils in the event, including Danielle and Dina Ammaccapane, Heather Bowie, Brandie Burton, Michelle Estill, Nancy Harvey, Jimin Kang, Emilee Klein, Grace Park and Wendy Ward.
Live scoring for the Safeway International will be available at www.lpga.com.