March 19, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz.- The No. 31 Arizona State women's golf team is traveling to Austin, Texas, March 21-23, to take part in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational at the par-72, 6,247-yard Hills Country Club. Competitors play 18 holes each day with tee times beginning at 8 a.m.
The University of Texas is hosting the event named after former Longhorn Betsy Rawls, a World Golf Hall of Fame member who won four US Opens and more than 50 tour championships between 1951-1975.
LINEUP, BETSY RAWLS INVITATIONAL: ASU's lineup will feature sophomore Alissa Kuczka (Phoenix, Ariz.), freshman Tiffany Tavee (Gilbert, Ariz.), junior Erin Tone (Gilbert, Ariz.), junior Nicole Deacon (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and freshman Lindsay Anderson (El Paso, Texas).
THE FIELD, BETSY RAWLS INVITATIONAL: The field at the Betsy Rawls Invitational includes No. 7 Arizona, No. 4 California, Kansas, Kansas State, No. 22 UNLV, No. 20 North Carolina, Northwestern, No. 16 Oklahoma, Oregon State, Purdue, No. 11 Southern California, Southern Methodist, No. 19 Texas, Texas A&M, No. 33 Texas Christian, No. 13 Tulsa and No. 9 Vanderbilt.
2003-04 ASU STROKE AVERAGES: Name App Top 10 Rounds Strokes Avg. Low Alissa Kuczka 6 0 18 1366 75.89 71 Tiffany Tavee 6 0 18 1368 76.00 72 Erin Tone 4 0 12 935 77.92 74 Lindsay Anderson 3 1 8 634 79.25 71 Nicole Deacon 1 0 2 160 80.00 76ASU, LAST TIME OUT: The team competed at the Spartan Invitational March 2-3, finishing in sixth place after three rounds of play in two days at the Corral de Tierra Country Club in Salinas, Calif. The team shot a combined 907 (303-304-300=907, +43) for the tournament with sophomore Alissa Kuczka (Phoenix, Ariz.) leading the way at five-over par.
Kuczka shot an even-par 72 on the final day (75-74-72=221) to help her into a tie for 12th place. Also finishing in the top-20 for the Sun Devils was freshman Tiffany Tavee (Gilbert, Ariz.) who tied for 19th at nine-over (73-78-74=225).
Freshman Charmaine Erasmus (Bradenton, Fla.) tied for 29th (75-75-79=229) at 13-over with junior Erin Tone (Gilbert, Ariz.) in 54th (84-77-75=236) at 20-over and freshman Lindsay Anderson (El Paso, Texas) in 73rd (80-86-80=246) at 30-over. The team title in Salinas was won by UCLA with an impressive team effort of a six-under-par 858 (294-279-285=858) to win by 21 strokes. The Bruins' Charlotte Mayorkas took top individual honors after carding a five-under (72-67-72=211) for the tournament.
HEAD COACH Melissa McNamara Luellen: Melissa McNamara Luellen is in her second year as the head coach of the Arizona State women's golf team. In her initial year at the helm of the program, she guided the Sun Devils to five top-five finishes, including top-three placings at the Landfall Tradition and the Wildcat Invitational. Luellen came to ASU after two seasons as the head coach at her alma mater, the University of Tulsa. A former All-American for the Golden Hurricane, she succeeded her mother, Dale McNamara, who retired in 2000 following a 26-year career that saw her Tulsa teams win four national championships. In her two seasons as Tulsa's head coach, Luellen led her team to seven tournament titles including back-to-back Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Central Regional championships. She also earned WAC Coach of the Year honors in each of her two seasons and was the 2002 Central Regional Coach of the Year.