Alabama in Eighth-Place Tie at SEC Championship
4/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
FRANKLIN, Tenn. ?? The Crimson Tide women’s golf team improved dramatically from yesterday’s opening round of the 2006 SEC Championship but unfortunately so did everyone else and Alabama dropped one spot in the team standings into a tie for eighth place at the event.
In the opening round, high wind and adverse weather conditions kept scores up, but with a much more favorable day for golf in today’s second round, scores plummeted across the board. Every one of the teams competing shot a better score in the second round than in the first with as much as a 20-stroke improvement in the field from day one to day two.
“Just like yesterday, I thought we did some really good things and put together a solid round,” Potter said. “That being said, I still think we have had some opportunities that we haven’t taken advantage of. We are still in the race, but we will have to have a good day tomorrow to finish where we want to be.”
Alabama shaved 11 strokes off its opening-round 307 and tallied a 296 to give the team a 603 cumulative stroke total after 36 holes of play. The 296 effort by Alabama was its best team performance in a single round in an SEC Championship since 2001. The Tide placed seventh in that year, the last time the team has posted a top-10 finish at the conference championship.
Defending champion and fifth-ranked Auburn continues to lead after posting a 282 in second-round action. The Tigers hold a three-shot advantage over second place and fourth-ranked Georgia. Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida round out the top five in the team standings.
Alabama stands just four shots back of the Lady Gators and is poised to make its first top-10 showing at the SEC Championship since 2001. The Tide has not finished in the top five at the event since earning a third-place finish in 1998.
As was the case in the opening round for the Tide, the team put together a group of solid, if not spectacular scores. Every Alabama player broke the 80 barrier, allowing for a more consistent performance from the unit as a whole.
Carina Sorensen, one of two Tide seniors at the event, broke through in the second 18 holes of play to lead Alabama. Sorensen fired a one-under 71 in the second round, her first round under par this season.
That effort put her at 147 after 36 holes and moved her up to a tie for seventh place in the individual standings. It also set a new season low for 18 holes and tied her previous career low for one round of play.
A top-10 finish for Sorensen would be the fourth of her career and the first for the Tide in the top 10 at the SEC Championship since 2001 when Paula Carter tied for eighth place.
“Carina has really put it together this weekend,” Potter said. “She has had a few rounds like the one she had today throughout the season, but she hasn’t been able to put them all together. Hopefully she can keep put together another nice round for us tomorrow.”
Jenny Suh, Alabama’s star junior, shaved four strokes off of her first-round score and carded an even-par 72 in second-round action. The Fairfax, Va., native stands a single stroke behind Sorensen and has a definite chance to earn her 20th career top-10 finish with a similar performance in tomorrow’s concluding round.
The 2005 Southern Conference individual champion has led the Tide in seven of the team’s eight events thus far this season and is tied for 15th place after two rounds of play at this weekend’s championship.
True freshman Laura Goodwin continues to play her best golf of the season and fired a 75 in the second round. Goodwin, who started off slowly this season but has come on strong of late, is tied for 34th place in the individual standings. A top-30 finish at the SEC Championship would mark the third in a row for the surging freshman.
“Laura has been a key for us in the past few events,” Potter said. “We knew she was a good athlete and would come around in time and she has proven that to be true. She is capable of being a great player for us and I think she can continue to improve.”
Sarah Sturm, a talented sophomore from Spartanburg, S.C., struggled a bit in her second round and was the only Tide player who added strokes to her score from the opening round. Sturm posted a 79 in the second round after opening with a 77 and is tied for 44th place after 36 holes of play.
Audrey Gale recovered from yesterday’s 85 with a 78 in the second round and stands in a tie for 54th place.
Maria Martinez of Auburn holds a two-shot edge in the individual standings over Taylor Leon of Georgia. Martinez and Leon each shot 68 in second-round action, the only players in the field to do so.
The concluding round of the 2006 SEC Championship will begin on Sunday, April 16 at 8:30 a.m. from the Ironhorse Course on the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.
