Feb. 16, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's women's golf team will play host to the Peg Barnard Invitational Saturday and Sunday at Stanford Golf Course. The 36-hole, 12-team event will feature shotgun starts on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

Admission is free.

The tournament is named after Peg Barnard, a tireless fundraiser for women's athletics at Stanford before the women's and men's programs merged in the late 1970's.

Joining host Stanford in this year's field are teams from California, Fresno State, Furman, Hawaii, Oregon State, Portland State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose State, Stanford, Rollins, Washington.

Stanford Golf Course will play to a par of 71 and approximately 6,100 yards for this event.

California, which won last year's event with a 36-hole score of 579, is the highest ranked team in the event, checking in at No. 17 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

Cal's Emily Childs is expected to return to the field to defend her individual title which she won last year with a two-under score of 140.

Stanford has won or shared the Peg Barnard title six times since 1995, with its last title coming in 2010, when the Cardinal erased an eight-shot lead with a final round 292 to edge Cal by one stroke. Sally Watson shared medalist honors with Cal's Joanne Lee as both players carded 144 for 36-holes.

Head coach Caroline O'Connor is expected to start a lineup consisting of (in order) freshman Mariko Tumangan, Watson, sophomore Marissa Mar, junior Kristina Wong and senior Lila Barton.

Watson's status for the tournament was in question after she was forced to withdraw from last week's Wildcat Invitational during the second round with back pain. She recently began hitting balls again and O'Connor believes she will be at full strength for the weekend.

"She will definitely be put to the test, playing two rounds in cool conditions. Since coming back from the Wildcat, she has focused on getting healthy, rather than preparing for this tournament. Sometimes when you have lower expectations, it relaxes you to play your best golf. Sally has won this tournament before so we'll see what happens."

O'Connor hopes two solid rounds in its home course will give her team a boost on momentum heading into the remainder of the spring schedule.

"Our focus is on starting strong and playing two good days of solid golf. Our goal is to improve everyday and set our own standards."

Peg Barnard Invitational History

Team Winner and Medalist

2011
Cal (579)
Emily Childs, Cal (140)

2010
Stanford (596)
Sally Watson, Stanford; Joanne Lee, Cal (144)

2008
Stanford (591)
Karrin Dickinson, Washington (142)

2007
Stanford (572)
Kay Hoey, Long Beach State (134; tournament record)

2006
USC (588)
Irene Cho, USC (137)

2005
Washington (587)
Kim Welch, Washington State (140)

2004
Stanford (590)
Kim Welch, Washington State (142)

2003
Denver (621)
Wendra Liang, Stanford (148)

2002
Washington (593)
Mikaela Parmlid, USC (143)

2001
Stanford (595)
Jerilyn White, Oregon (144)

2000
Washington and USC (602)
Amanda Moltke-Leth, UCLA (144)

1999
USC (599)
Stephanie Keever, Stanford (144)

1998
USC (601)
Anika Heuser, Oregon (147)

1997
San Jose State (581)
Janice Moody, San Jose State (136)

1996
San Jose State (590)
Vibeke Stensrud, San Jose State (138)

1995
Stanford and San Jose State (594)
Mhairi McKay, Stanford (142)