Despite finishing last season in the middle of the pack, the Sacramento State women’s golf team was picked in one of the closest preseason polls in history to win the Big Sky Conference title by the competition’s coaches.

The Hornets received four first-place votes and 58 total points from the Big Sky coaches, placing them to win the conference ahead of Northern Arizona University and two-time defending champion Portland State University.

When the news of being ranked at the top reached the women’s golf team, it felt like a story it had already heard. Senior Julie Shutler said she was not surprised by the vote.

“I felt we have been the best team in our conference since I have been here,” Shutler said. “But more so this year than any other year, I think we have more talent on our team than anyone else does in our conference.”

Director of Golf and women’s golf head coach David Sutherland said in his years coaching at Sac State, he has never had a team with so much depth.

In the past, Sutherland said his teams relied on the play of their two top players rather than every member of the team.

“This year, from top-to-bottom, each player has the potential to compete and be the best player. We didn’t have that before this team,” Sutherland said. “This can be the first team I have coached that is capable of not only winning the Big Sky, but being able to have the ability to go out and face schools in the Pac-10 like Stanford and California and compete well against them.”

Shutler said qualifying for tournaments this year has been more competitive than her previous three years because her teammates are providing tough competition. Five of the 10 players on the team are only able to travel and compete with the team. The five players who are playing their best will play, Sutherland said. If he could play all 10 girls, they would be nearly impossible to beat in the Big Sky Conference, Sutherland said.

Two of the top-ranked freshmen in the conference are from Sac State – Sagee Palavivatana and Lexie Hall. Both players have qualified for and played in each tournament this season, and both have made immediate impacts on their team’s development.

Behind the play of Shutler, Sac State’s women’s golf is becoming a perennial powerhouse.

“I think this is a really relaxed group,” Sutherland said. “I don’t think they’re nervous at all. They’re confident that they can expect to play and win against anybody in our conference.”

Palavivatana said the stress the game can bring is easier to deal with because she has a team filled with positive-energy, surrounded by a collective bond, which has helped her out a lot.

“It has definitely been a huge transition from high school,” Palavivatana said. “But it is exciting to be able to travel and play with a bunch of great girls.”

Sutherland said in light of the women’s willingness to want to achieve higher expectations than they have already set, they cannot expect to show up and win. He wants to see something happen that has not yet – for each player to play well all at the same time.

“We have not had all five gals play at their best collectively,” Sutherland said. “In my mind, that is the biggest concern for me. How do I get everyone at the same time playing well?”

At the start of the season last fall, Sac State led all Big Sky teams with an average of 311.27 strokes per round. Shutler, who placed ninth at last season’s Big Sky Championships, averaged 76.82 strokes per round. Hall followed behind her with 78.07.

The team will be able to receive an extra boost at the start of spring play with the return of senior Justine Chen. Chen did not compete during the fall season for academic reasons.

The 2012 Big Sky Conference Championship is set to take place April 23 through 25 at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.

“Everyone looks really good out there on the course right now,” Shutler said. “Personally, I feel really good about my game. As a team, we felt like we did not necessarily have a great fall season. There is a whole lot of room for improvement and I think we’re really going to show off this semester.”

Gabriel Pacheco can be reached at [email protected].