UC IRVINE STARTS SEASON AT COUGAR CUP: The UC Irvine women's golf team will begin the season at the Washington State Cougar Cup Sept. 19-20 at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course.

Teams will play 36 holes on Monday beginning at 7:00 a.m. followed by 18 holes Tuesday starting at 8:00 a.m. 

The tournament field includes Stanford, Gonzaga, Washington, Idaho, Eastern Washington, Nevada, Sacramento State, Montana, Montana State, Portland State, Oregon State and host Washington State. 

A LOOK BACK: UCI finished fourth at the Big West Championships a year ago. The team placed second at the Folino Invitational and third at the Anteater Invitational.

UPPERCLASSMAN RETURN: Senior Lalita Patipaksiri and junior Michelle Park were each named All-Big West second team last season. Park led the team in scoring average a year ago at 76.14, while Patipaksiri was second with a 76.24 mark.

VALERIO GARNERS AWARDS: Ronnie Valerio was named Big West Freshman of the Year as well as second team All-Big West. Valerio, who had a 76.38 scoring average last year, was also tabbed Big West Golfer for the month of November.

BANKE BECOMES AN ANTEATER: Sophomore Sara Banke joins the Anteater squad from the University of Portland. She was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection last year after recording a 77.63 scoring average. She led the Pilots at the West Coast Conference Championships with tie for 15th place.

CHIN RETURNS TO UCI: Jane Chin returns to her alma mater to serve as an assistant coach. Chin is UCI's only first team All-American and was the Big West Player of the Year in 2009. Chin had a 71.94 scoring average as a senior which was second in the country in the Golfstat Cup.