Tiger Women Tied For Lead at NCAA Central Regional
5/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 6, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - The famous west-Texas winds whipped the field Friday at the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship Central Regional, setting the stage for a thrilling finale Saturday at The Rawls Course.
The Missouri women are in a four-way tie for the lead - along with Auburn and fellow Big 12 members Baylor and Texas A&M - following 36 holes of the 54-hole event, which will send the top eight teams to the NCAA Division I Women's Golf National Championship, May 18-21, in Sunriver, Ore. While the Tigers hold the lead following their four-player aggregate score of 24-over-par 312, only eight strokes separate the quartet from 10th place.
The Tigers will tee off early Saturday morning, along with the Aggies and Lady Bears, beginning at 7:40 a.m., in search of their first-ever appearance at the national tournament. This is Missouri's seventh appearance at regionals. Two weeks ago at the Big 12 Championships, Texas finished second behind Oklahoma State - who is playing in the NCAA West Regional this weekend - followed by Baylor, Missouri and Texas A&M.
A day after nearly half the field broke 300, Baylor corralled the best team score on Friday with a 13-over 301. Much of that can be attributed to winds which were consistently at 25 mph, and gusted at times over 30 mph the entire day. The end result was a field-average score Friday of 79.92, nearly 3.5 strokes higher than Thursday's first round. Only seven players shot 74 or better in the second round, led by an even-par 72 from Michigan State's Heather Rose.
"You never know what the scores are going to be on a day like this - you almost pray for bogeys," Head Coach Stephanie Cooper said. "The course definitely played tough today. It's nice to be finished.
Noting the logjam at the top of the leaderboard, Cooper noted, "The teams are going to be so close tomorrow. It's definitely going to be a shootout. They're forecasting thunderstorms and some more wind tomorrow, so you could go from first to 15th pretty quickly. We're going to play like we want to win instead of playing to protect a lead. We'll just see what happens tomorrow."
The Tigers were led Friday by junior Denise Knaebel (Moberly, Mo.), who carded a 5-over 77 to stand in a tie for sixth place. She had three bogeys on her first nine (Missouri started on the back nine), but notched a birdie-2 on the third hole before closing with a double-bogey on No. 5 and a bogey on No. 7.
Junior Kelli Strubinger (St. Charles, Mo.) and senior Mindy Bullard (Warrensburg, Mo.) both shot 78 on Friday and are in ties for 30th and 42nd place, respectively. Strubinger had a relatively even round, carding six bogeys and 12 pars. Bullard had birdies on holes No. 11 and 2 to make her one of only a handful of players to notch two birdies in her round.
To start her round, senior Maria Ohlsson (Vetlanda, Sweden) birdied the par-3 10th hole - ranked as the toughest on the course on Friday - for the second straight day, making her the only person to do so this week. She struggled the rest of the way, however, suffering a bogey on the next hole and a double-bogey on No. 15 before adding five more bogeys on the front nine. She is tied for 14th.
Freshman Maddie Augustsson (Solvesborg, Sweden) had a bad start to her day before she even hit her first shot, as she was hit in the head by an errant ball on the short-game range prior to the start of the round. She suffered a mild concussion as a result, and despite losing nine strokes to par in the first six holes, completed her round. She is in a tie for 78th place after her 14-over 86.
"Maddie didn't tell me that she got hit because she didn't want me to worry, but she got sick after the third hole and got dizzy, and was seeing more than one ball on the course," Cooper said. "She didn't tell me until after her round was over. She was chipping on the short range, and someone from another school bladed a sand wedge and hit her in the side of the head on the fly. She's starting to feel a little better, and she hopes she can play tomorrow, but we'll continue to monitor her."
UT's Lisa Ferrero will head into the final round with a two-stroke lead over first-round lead Diana Ramage after shooting a 1-over 73 to stand at 1-under 141. Ramage faltered to a 77 on Friday.
MIZZOU WOMEN'S GOLF
at the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships Central Regional
The Rawls Course - Lubbock, Texas - 6,328 yards / par 72
TEAM STANDINGS
(Through 36 of 54 holes)
Pl. Team Par 1st 2nd Total
1. MISSOURI +27 291 312 603
Baylor +27 302 301 603
Texas A&M +27 293 310 603
Auburn +27 294 309 603
5. Purdue +28 295 309 604
6. Arizona State +29 296 309 605
7. Michigan State +31 300 307 607
Texas +31 290 317 607
9. Tulsa +32 298 310 608
10. Arkansas +35 300 311 611
11. Kent State +36 305 307 612
12. LSU +38 298 316 614
13. Wake Forest +41 302 315 617
14. Texas Tech +43 301 318 619
15. Michigan +45 301 320 621
16. New Mexico +47 291 332 623
SMU +47 310 313 623
18. TCU +51 299 328 627
19. Notre Dame +53 306 323 629
20. South Florida +55 314 317 631
21. Long Island +116 349 343 692
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
(top 10 plus other MU finishers)
Pl. Player (TM) Par 1st 2nd Total
1. Lisa Ferrero (UT) -1 70 73 143
2. Diana Ramage (AUB) +1 68 77 145
3. Alissa Kuczka (ASU) +3 72 75 147
4. Megan Hull (TTU) +4 75 73 148
Christa Spedding (TAMU) +4 70 78 148
6. Denise Knaebel (MU) +5 72 77 149
Brianna Broderick (Mich.) +5 74 75 149
Whitney Frykman (PUR) +5 71 78 149
Nicole Hage (AUB) +5 74 75 149
Rachel Meikle (Mich. St.) +5 75 74 149
O. Sattayabanphot (PUR) +5 71 78 149
Brooke Shelton (LSU) +5 72 77 149
Louise Stahle (Ariz. St.) +5 72 77 149
T14. Maria Ohlsson (MU) +6 71 79 150
T30. Kelli Strubinger (MU) +8 74 78 152
T42. Mindy Bullard (MU) +10 76 78 154
T78. M. Augustsson (MU) +16 74 86 160
