UF Women's Golf Advances to NCAA Championships with 7th Place Regional Finish
Saturday, May 7, 2005 | Women's Golf
The Lady Gator golf team claimed one of the advancing positions to the NCAA Championships with its seventh-place finish at the NCAA East Regional held Saturday at the University of Florida Golf Course. The top eight teams at the East Regional advance to the NCAA Championships, set for May 17-20 in Bend, Ore. Ohio State held its second-round lead to take the tournament title after turning in a third-round total of 291 to finish at 856. UF shot a 298 in Saturday's concluding round to finish with a total of 886.
The other teams advancing to the NCAA Championships include Duke (862), Furman (871), Pepperdine (874), Virginia (881), Tulane (885) and Washington (900). Duke's Anna Grzebien won the individual title after firing a three-under par 67 Saturday to finish at 209. This is UF's 18th appearance in the 24-year history of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
The Lady Gators narrowly missed advancing to the 2004 NCAA Championships, as UF and Oklahoma State shared eighth after the final round of play at the NCAA East Regional held at the Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. OSU won the play-off to take the final spot that advanced to the NCAA Championships. But this year, UF Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton was happy to do without the final day drama.
"Although this wasn't the finish we wanted, I'll take this finish," Briles-Hinton said. "I equate Regionals to Q-School (Qualifying School for LPGA). You've got to get through it to play. Now they can just relax and go play golf (at the NCAA Championships)."
For the second consecutive round, the low Lady Gator was freshman Sandra Gal. Gal shot a final round of 72 to finish tied for 10th at 217.
"My round was very steady today," Gal said. "I got up and down, but unfortunately, I missed a couple of birdie putts, so I was a little unlucky. I had no birdies today."
Gal said the Lady Gators were happy to earn a NCAA Championships' berth.
"We are definitely very happy about making it to NCAAs. Expectations were high because we were playing on our home course. I'm proud of the team," Gal said. "The pressure (of playing at home) didn't bother me – I just love to play here because it is a great course. It definitely will be a little more relaxed going into the championships because it is the last tournament and we don't have school to worry about."
Senior Andrea Vander Lende and freshman Whitney Myers each turned in rounds of 75 Saturday. Vander Lende finished tied for 15th at 220 while Myers tied for 47th overall at 228. Freshman Tiffany Chudy posted a round of 76 to finish with a three-round total of 224 (T28th). Freshman C.J. Kim shot a 78 on Saturday, placing her in a tie for 67th at 232.
Briles-Hinton said the team will start preparing for the final tournament soon.
"We will take a couple of days off and then continue tournament preparation," Briles-Hinton said.
| NCAA East Regional | |||||
| University of Florida Golf Course (Par 70 - 6023 yards) | |||||
| Gainesville, Fla. * Final Round * May 7, 2005 | |||||
| Place | School | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Final |
| 1 | Ohio State | 285 | 280 | 291 | 856 |
| 2 | Duke | 292 | 283 | 287 | 862 |
| 3 | Furman University | 291 | 293 | 287 | 871 |
| 4 | Pepperdine | 294 | 291 | 289 | 874 |
| 5 | University of Virginia | 292 | 297 | 292 | 881 |
| 6 | Tulane University | 293 | 292 | 300 | 885 |
| 7 | Florida | 287 | 301 | 298 | 886 |
| 8 | Washington | 306 | 298 | 296 | 900 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 293 | 307 | 303 | 903 |
| 10 | Vanderbilt | 307 | 292 | 305 | 904 |
| 11 | Campbell University | 297 | 303 | 308 | 908 |
| 12 | Princeton University | 302 | 300 | 309 | 911 |
| 13 | Miami | 303 | 304 | 305 | 912 |
| 14 | North Carolina State | 319 | 299 | 297 | 915 |
| 15 | N. Car. Wilmington | 306 | 308 | 306 | 920 |
| 16 | Mississippi St. | 306 | 308 | 311 | 925 |
| 17 | East Carolina | 309 | 305 | 315 | 929 |
| 18 | James Madison | 309 | 317 | 306 | 932 |
| 19 | Coastal Carolina | 323 | 307 | 322 | 952 |
| 20 | Jacksonville St. | 325 | 315 | 320 | 960 |
| 21 | Jackson State | 328 | 332 | 330 | 990 |
| Top 10 Individuals | ||||||
| Place | Name | School | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Final |
| 1 | Anna Grzebien | Duke | 73 | 69 | 67 | 209 |
| T2 | Jenny Suh | Furman | 69 | 69 | 72 | 210 |
| T2 | Leah Wigger | Virginia | 70 | 67 | 73 | 210 |
| 4 | Alison Walshe | Tulane University | 70 | 73 | 69 | 212 |
| T5 | Brittany Lang | Duke | 74 | 68 | 71 | 213 |
| T5 | Carolina Llano | Pepperdine | 70 | 72 | 71 | 213 |
| T7 | Dana Je | Ohio State | 71 | 71 | 72 | 214 |
| T7 | Kristen White | Ohio State | 73 | 69 | 72 | 214 |
| 9 | Kristen Svicarovich | Vanderbilt | 77 | 69 | 70 | 216 |
| T10 | Sandra Gal | Florida | 71 | 74 | 72 | 217 |
| T10 | Elizabeth Janangelo | Duke | 72 | 71 | 74 | 217 |
| T10 | Lindsay Knowlton | Ohio State | 79 | 68 | 70 | 217 |
| T10 | Theresa Paik | Furman | 71 | 76 | 70 | 217 |
| Florida Results | |||||
| Place | Name | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Final |
| T10 | Sandra Gal | 71 | 74 | 72 | 217 |
| T15 | Andrea Vander Lende | 72 | 73 | 75 | 220 |
| T28 | Tiffany Chudy | 69 | 79 | 76 | 224 |
| T47 | Whitney Myers | 75 | 78 | 75 | 228 |
| T67 | C.J. Kim | 78 | 76 | 78 | 232 |
