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Feb. 10, 2013
PALOS VERDES, Calif -- After one of the most successful fall seasons in school history, the Husky women's golf team is ready to kick off the spring with plenty of expectations on their shoulders. Washington enters the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge at Palos Verdes Golf Club as the No. 1 ranked team by Golfweek and No. 2 by Golfstat.com. With a higher ranking come loftier expectations, which is relatively foreign to Coach Mary Lou Mulflur's team. "Expectations is kind of the elephant in the room," said Mulflur of her team that went 58-2 head-to-head in the fall. "You're not quite sure what to do with it or how they will manage that. "Based on how they managed the way they played in the fall, I think they're comfortable being there. They are kind of relishing it. They have been working hard and I think they're in a good mindset." The Huskies mindset was put in a good place in the fall when they won twice and were second in two other tournaments. They will need some swagger as they tee it up in Palos Verdes starting Monday and running through Wednesday as the tournament field includes five other top-10 squads and in all, 15 teams ranked inside the Golfweek top-50. "Palos Verdes is a really great starting tournament," said Mulflur. "It's a fabulous golf course and the field is really strong, so right out of the gate we will get a good sense of where we're at." Other teams joining Washington are (Golfweek rankings): Arizona (7), Arizona State (8), Baylor (28), Colorado, Duke (4), Florida (6), Michigan State (13), Ohio State (48), Oklahoma State (11), Oregon (40), Pepperdine (31), Texas (34), UCLA (36), USC (3) and Wake Forest (47). Mulflur's lineup will include SooBin Kim, Charlotte Thomas, Jennifer Yang, Brittany Tallman and Ying Luo. Cyd Okino will compete as an individual. Kim enters spring No. 1 in Golfstat.com's rankings and No. 2 according to Golfweek. The sophomore had a win, plus a second and third in four tournaments this fall. Thomas burst onto the scene with a win in her debut at the Oregon State Invitational and fought for a second-place result at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. The freshman's three top-10's during the fall helped Thomas earn a 22nd ranking in the Golfweek rankings . Sophomore Jennifer Yang and walk-on freshman Ying Luo also enter the spring ranked highly. Yang rose to 59th in the Golfweek rankings, while Luo is 89th. Tallman, the lone senior on the squad, won a match play team qualifier to earn her spot in the lineup this weekend. Okino is the sixth Husky in California and will compete in Palos Verdes as an individual. | |||||||||||||||
