Women's golf back in action after month off

By Stacey DeFever, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, October 8, 1998

After almost a month of extra practice, the Long Beach State women's golf team will swing into action next week in Oregon.

At the Ram Fall Classic golf tournament in Colorado Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, four freshmen golfers got their feet wet.

Sue Ewart, women's golf coach, said she wanted the new team members to experience a college level tournament.

The Beach came in 14th out of 20 participating schools with a combined three-round-total of 974.

Isela Alvarado, Shelbie Jasper, Mira Lee and Gena Dells all played fairly consistently in their first collegiate tournament, Ewart said.

The Beach's top golfer was Alvarado, who placed 33rd out of 107 competitors with a total of 235.

"All of the ladies on our team have competed either nationally, statewide or in city tournaments and all, except Jasper, have at least five years experience," Ewart said.

Jasper has only played for two years, but Ewart said she is a natural.

At the Lady Lumberjack Invitational Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 in Arizona, Jasper and returning golfers Amber Pearson, Tami Shibata, Alexis Dunning and Fredrika Schlasberg placed sixth out of 10 teams with a combined two-round-total of 658.

Pearson led the The Beach and placed 17th out of 51 golfers with a two-round-total of 159.

"Everyone played pretty well, but it's still early in the season. Our next tournament in Oregon is going to be tough," Ewart said.

Ewart said that there is a good mix of personalities on the team this year. The ladies are very supportive of one another and seem to get along well, she said.

Since the team is relatively young consisting of only one senior the women have a lot of opportunity for growth.

Ewart said she expects drastic improvements in the golf games by spring.

The women are competing in qualifying rounds to see who will play in Oregon, Ewart said. Currently, the Top 5 golfers are Pearson, Alvarado, Schlasberg, Dunning and Shibata.

Although they have not yet qualified to play, Ann Shiraishi, Melissa Miller, Courtney Cash and Laura Say are practicing with the team.

The team will travel to Corvallis, Ore. Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 to play in the 1998 Northwest Invitational hosted by Oregon State University.