Bearcats Look Ahead to GFU Culturame Classic This Weekend in Aloha

By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University womens golf team will tee it up for the second time this season on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10 and 11, at the GFU Culturame Classic hosted by George Fox University. Tee times are set for 9 a.m. (PDT) on Saturday and 8 a.m. (PDT) on Sunday.

The Bearcats are coming off a second-place finish at the season-opening Pacific Fall Opener at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks, as Willamette posted a combined two-day team score of 82-over 658 (324-334) to finish behind tournament champions Whitman College.

LettaJoe Gallup (Jr., Alameda, CA/Holy Names HS) led the Bearcats with a Top 10 finish behind a 36-hole combined score of 18-over 162 (80-82).

Maddie Barnett (Fr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) and Taneesh Sra (Jr., Fremont, CA/Mission San Jose HS) both finished in the Top 15, as Barnett ended in a two-way tie for 11th place with a combined two-day score of 20-over 164 (80-84) and Sra tied for 13th after carding a two-round total of 21-over 165 (80-85).

Two other players - Stephanie Aronson (Fr., Pleasanton, CA/Foothill HS) and Holly Steele (Fr., Stayton, OR/Stayton HS) - also competed for Willamette finishing in the Top 40 individually.

After a one-year hiatus away from the GFU Culturame Classic, Willamette returns after posting a third place finish in 2012. The Bearcats tallied a two-round total of 78-over 662 (336-326) to finish a mere one stroke behind University of California-Santa Cruz for second place. Former Bearcat Nicole Smith led Willamette with a Top 5 finish individually, while Sra and former Willamette student-athlete McKenzie Weinhold also posted Top 10 finishes.

This weekend's tournament will be contested at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club, which is a 5,848 yard, par 73 venue located west of Portland in Aloha, Oregon.

After this weekend, Willamette will close out the fall season on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 26, at the Northwest Conference Fall Classic played at Chehalem Glenn Golf Course in Newberg, Oregon.