OREM, Utah – After taking the winter months off, the Utah Valley University women's golf team will open the spring portion of its season on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 7 and 8, at CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly's Valley Invitational.
 
The Valley Invitational will be contested at Bakersfield Country Club in Bakersfield, California and will feature 54 holes of action. The field will first play a pair of rounds on Monday beginning at 9 a.m. MT/8 a.m. PT, before concluding the event on Tuesday with the final round also getting underway at 9 a.m. MT/8 a.m. PT. Each round will begin with a shotgun start and live scoring can be followed throughout the duration of the tournament by visiting GolfStat.com.
 
A total of 13 teams will take part in the event. Besides UVU and co-hosts CSUB and Cal Poly, California Baptist, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Northern Arizona, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UC Davis, and UC Irvine will also take part in the event.  
 
It's finally February and we're back on the road," head UVU coach Juli Erekson said. "I'm proud of our girls for the hard work and effort they have put in during the off season. We are looking forward to this spring season with a great schedule and motivation to improve from last year."  
 
LAST TIME OUT
Monday and Tuesday's tournament will mark the first of six scheduled regular-season spring events for UVU. It will also mark Utah Valley's first competition since Oct. 24-26 when it tied for sixth at Northern Arizona's Clash at Boulder Creek at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada. 
 
Sophomore Victoria Estrada led the way for UVU at The Clash at Boulder Creek by earning a runner-up finish with a 54-hole school record of 4-under-par 212 (69-71-72). Freshman Leighton Shosted also posted a top-five finish at the event by tying for fifth with a 2-over 218 (71-74-73). As a team, UVU tied for sixth 33-over 897 with scores of 292, 307, and 298. The 897 marked the 11th-best three-round team score in program history.
 
Prior to The Clash at Boulder Creek, UVU recorded a third place finish out of 20 teams at Seattle U's Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational on Oct. 11-12 with a 31-over-par 895.
 
SEASON LEADERS
The freshman Shosted leads UVU on the season with a 74.25 scoring average as well as being the team's top finisher in two of the fall tournaments in the fall. Estrada is next with a 75.00 stroke average, while senior Bailey Henley follows with a 76.42 clip.
 
UVU'S COMPETITORS AT THE VALLEY INVITE
Estrada, sophomore Lauren Taylor, Henley, Shosted, and sophomore Caylyn Ponich will compete for UVU at The Valley Invite. 
 
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will return to Southern California the following week, Feb. 14 and 15, to take part at Wyoming's Mountain Match Play Classic at The Classic Club in Palm Desert. UVU will then be off until March 7-8 when it heads to McAllen, Texas for the UTRGV Invitational at McAllen Country Club.