No. 5 Bruins Open Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

Monday, September 16

Lake Elmo, MN

All Day

UCLA

ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M

Freshman Ty Akabane

No. 5 Bruins Open Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

September 14, 2019 | Women's Golf

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LAKE ELMO, Minn. - The Bruins, ranked fifth in the Golfweek Preseason poll, open the 2019-2020 season at Royal Golf Club, taking part in the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M. The 54-hole, three-day tournament will commence on Monday and run through Wednesday at the par-72, 6,410-yard layout.

The starting five for the Bruins will consist of seniors Mariel Galdiano and Clare Legaspi, sophomore Simar Singh and freshmen Ty Akabane and Emma Spitz. UCLA will begin its first round on Monday at 9:20 a.m. CT/7:20 a.m. PT in the order of Akabane, Legaspi, Singh, Galdiano and Spitz.

Joining the Bruins in the 12-team field are No. 1 USC, No. 2 Duke, No. 4 Texas, No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 14 Arizona, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 26 Arkansas, Minnesota and Virginia.

UCLA has played in all five of the previous ANNIKA Intercollegiates, finishing ninth in 2014, sixth in 2015, third in 2016 and second in both 2017 and 2018. This is the second year in a row the tournament has been held at Royal Golf Club. Last season, Patty Tavatanakit won the individual title (-13, 203).

Spitz, currently ranked 14th in the Women's Amateur Golf Ranking, was invited to compete in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship, where she was able to be one of 30 players to tee it up at Augusta National. The native of Vienna, Austria also took part in the 2019 AIG Women's British Open. Spitz won the stroke play portion of the 2018 Girls' British Open Amateur by five shots, and would go on to win the 18-hole match play title to become the first Austrian to win the event. Spitz was a member of the '18 European Junior Ryder Cup and 2017 European Junior Solheim Cup teams, and also earned a bronze medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. In 2019, she won the Slovenian Amateur Championship, finished second at the Austrian Stroke Play Championship and placed 11th at the European Ladies' Amateur Championship.

Galdiano enters her senior season coming off Golfweek and WGCA Honorable Mention All-American awards. She was second on the team last year with a 72.9 scoring average, posting victories at the Golfweek Conference Challenge and the Stanford Intercollegiate, the first two wins of her career. Galdiano had four Top 10s and eight Top 20s, including a T-11 finish at the Silverado Showdown and a T-13 showing at the Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship. Galdiano, an All-Pac-12 First Team honoree, had nine under-par rounds and four in the 60s. Her best round of the season was a 9-under 62 at Stanford. Galdiano was a combined 23-under in her first three tournaments of the season. She tied for third at the Bruin Wave Invitational, tied for eighth at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, tied for 12th at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview and tied for 18th at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.

Singh comes to UCLA after spending her freshman season at the University of Oregon. She appeared in three tournaments with the Ducks, tying for 32nd at the Schooner Fall Classic (E, 213) and the PING/ASU Invitational (+5, 221) and tying for 74th at the Stanford Intercollegiate (+19, 232). This summer, Singh finished second at the California Women's Championship (-7, 209) and tied for seventh in stroke play at the California Women's Amateur Championship. The Los Altos HS product competed in the 2017 USGA Women's Four Ball Championship and was runner-up at the '17 AJGA ACDS Championship. Singh produced two tournament wins on the NCGA Junior Tour and was also the 2015 California Girls State Junior Champion.

Legaspi begins her senior campaign after playing in all 13 tournaments last season. She held a 74.6 scoring average, recording three Top 10s and five Top 20s. Legaspi tied for third at the Dual Match versus Denver (-1, 71), tied for fourth at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (+3, 216) and tied for seventh at the Golfweek Conference Challenge (-3, 213). She also tied for 18th at the Bruin Wave Invitational (+12, 228) and tied for 20th at the Stanford Intercollegiate (+2, 215). Legaspi totaled seven under-par rounds, recording a 4-under 67 in the opening round at Stanford and an opening-round, 4-under 68 at Golfweek. Four of her seven under-par rounds were in the opening round of a tournament.

Akabane is coming off a solid summer, which saw her win the AJGA PING Heather Farr Classic by five strokes. She also tied for 21st (E, 144) in stroke play at the U.S. Women's Amateur, reaching the round of 32. Akabane won the 2018 California Women's Amateur Championship, finishing at 9-under in stroke play to earn medalist honors by seven shots and going on to win all five match-play contests. In 2018, she appeared in eight AJGA tournaments, posting Top 20 finishes in all of them, including a pair of T-9 showings. Akabane played in the 2017 U.S. Women's Open, as well as the 2018 U.S. Women's Amateur, where she tied for 22nd.