Oregon State Hosts Salbasgeon Suites Invitational Monday And Tuesday

Teams participating are: Oregon State, Boise State, Colorado, Denver, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Idaho, Long Beach State, Nevada, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Washington State.

Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - Upcoming — The Oregon State women’s golf team gets the 2006-07 season underway by hosting its own Salbasgeon Suites Invitational at Trysting Tree Golf Club this week.

Thirty-six holes will be played on Monday with a shotgun start, followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday, which will have set tee times.

The Course — Trysting Tree Golf Club, located in Corvallis, is a par-72 course that measures 6,271 yards.

OSU Lineup — Jillian Ferrante, Martha Burkard, Jessi Gebhardt, Julianna Uhrik and Lauren Archer. The Beavers will also have two individuals playing: Pony Leung and Anna Rosvall.

Last Year’s OSU Invitational — The 2005-06 season also began with the OSU Invitational at Trysting Tree Golf Club. The Beavers finished third, four strokes behind the champion, BYU. Among OSU’s returners, Jillian Ferrante had the best performance, tying for 10th with a 224. Oregon’s Cathryn Bristow was the medalist with a 217.

Coach Risë Lakowske Says — "We’re obviously excited to start out at home. We’ll be comfortable because we know the golf course. They’re playing really well right now. The first week and a half of practice went very well and everyone seems to be striking the ball well, so we’ll see what happens."

OSU Coaches:

Risë Lakowske is in her 20th year as head coach of the Oregon State women’s golf program. She competed at OSU from 1973-77, playing in four AIAW National Championships, winning two collegiate events and several non-collegiate tournaments during her career. As OSU’s coach, she was named the 1998 Far West District Coach of the Year as she led the Beavers to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. The Beavers have made 10 appearances in the NCAA West Regional under Lakowske.

Assistant coach Kathleen Takaishi is currently in her fourth year with Oregon State. The former OSU All-American played in the NCAA Championships twice, and later played three years professionally on the Futures Tour after finishing her OSU career.

Volunteer assistant coach Thomas Dang joined the program this season. He is the founder of I-Golf, a golf instruction company.

OSU Players:

Freshman Lauren Archer (Boise, Idaho/Borah HS) — Won the Idaho 5A state championship as a junior and sophomore and placed fourth as a freshman and third as a senior ... Qualified for the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Sophomore Martha Burkard (Alameda, Calif./Bishop O’Dowd HS) — Played in nine of 12 tournaments last year as a true freshman ... Averaged 82.79 strokes per round.

Junior Jillian Ferrante (Battle Ground, Wash./Battle Ground HS) — Enters the season with a career stroke average of 77.76, which ranks third in school history ... Tied for third at the 2006 Oregon Women’s Stroke Play Championship and placed second at the 2006 Washington Amateur ... In 2005-06, averaged 76.85 strokes per round, second best on the team and sixth in school single-season history ... Led OSU at the NCAA West Regional by tying for 17th.

Junior Jessi Gebhardt (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS) — Begins 2006-07 with a career stroke average of 79.70 ... A two-time NGCA All-American Scholar and a 2006 Pac-10 All-Academic second team selection.

Junior Pony Leung (Discovery Bay, Hong Kong/St. Stephen’s/Tacoma CC) — A transfer from Tacoma Community College ... Won back-to-back NWAACC championships ... Over her two seasons at TCC, she won 12 of the 16 tournaments she competed in.

Sophomore Sara Natwick (Washougal, Wash./Washougal HS) — Appeared in five of 12 tournaments last year as a true freshman ... Averaged 80.36 strokes per round.

Senior Anna Rosvall (Hammaro, Sweden/Tingvalla Gymnasiet) — Injuries have hindered Rosvall’s career, and she enters the season with a career stroke average of 84.38 ... A 2006 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention selection.

Freshman Brittany Stewart (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) — Placed in the top 10 at the Arizona high school state championships all four years ... Also was a standout on the junior circuit in Arizona.

Junior Julianna Uhrik (Modesto, Calif./Modesto HS) — Starts 2006-07 with a career stroke average of 77.52, which is currently second all-time at Oregon State ... Played in the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur ... Averaged a team-best 76.59 strokes (fourth best in school single-season history) last year ... Had four top 20 finishes in 2005-06 ... Among her 2005-06 highlights: a 3-over 216 at Stanford, tied for the second-best tournament in school history, and a career-best sixth-place finish at the CU Heather Farr Memorial.

2005-06 Recap — OSU made a successful return to postseason play after a two-year absence, as the Beavers qualified for the NCAA West Regional, where they finished 13th. OSU shot three of the best team tournament scores in school history in the fall. The spring saw a second-place finish at the Oregon Duck Invitational, just one stroke behind the winner, San Jose State. The Beavers finished eighth at the Pac-10 Championships, an improvement over the past few seasons.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports