Tide Earns Ninth-Place Finish at SEC Championship
4/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
FRANKLIN, Tenn. ?? After an 11-stroke improvement in yesterday’s second round, the Alabama women’s golf team faltered a bit in today’s final round of the SEC Championship and earned a ninth-place finish at the event.
The Tide finished with a 903 after rounds of 307, 296 and 305 to drop to a ninth place after entering the final day of competition in a tie for eighth. Still, the team’s three-day score of 908 was the lowest at the SEC Championship since 2001, when the Tide posted a 905 and the ninth-place finish this year was the first top-10 placing for an Alabama team at the SEC finale since 2002.
“Today was a disappointing day,” Alabama head coach Mic Potter said. “We had a chance to move up and elevate our place, but we didn’t handle things very well. We just didn’t make the putts that we needed to make. I thought we had been doing better in that regard, but we fell into some old habits today.”
Auburn, the fifth-ranked team in the nation entering the event, defended its 2005 SEC title with another one this season after firing an 875 for 54 holes. That total was good enough to hold off runner-up Tennessee, who finished with an 876. Georgia finished third, the hosts from Vanderbilt earned fourth place and Arkansas rounded out the top five.
In contrast to the second round that saw four Tide players improve upon the previous round’s score, the third round saw four Alabama performers add strokes to their second-round totals. Audrey Gale was the lone Tide competitor to shave strokes from the second round in her final round of play.
Leading the way for the Tide, though, as she has for much of the season, was junior Jenny Suh. Suh, the 2005 Southern Conference champion, earned her 20th career top-10 finish by posting rounds of 76, 72 and 73 to finish with a 221.
That total was good enough for a tie for seventh place, giving Suh eight top-10 finishes in nine outings this season. Her performance was also the first top-10 placing for an Alabama individual at the SEC Championship since 2001, when Paula Carter earned an eighth-place tie.
Carina Sorensen, who had led the Tide in the first two rounds of play and entered the final round of competition in the top 10, stumbled a bit in the final round. Sorensen carded a 78 in her concluding 18 holes of play after tallying scores of 76 and 71 in rounds one and two. Her 225 for 54 holes earned her a tie for 21st place, the best finish at an SEC Championship in the senior’s career.
A key to the improved scores for Alabama at the event was the play of true freshman Laura Goodwin. Goodwin, who had earned top-30 finishes in her previous two outings, shot another solid round on the final day at the SEC Championship with a 77. She finished with a 230 to earn a tie for 35th place in the individual standings.
Sarah Sturm carded an 82 in the final round of action and finished in 50th place. Gale knocked a stroke off of her second-round score by shooting a 77 and finishing with a 240 over three rounds. Gale tied for 53rd place in the individual standings.
Auburn completed its sweep of honors at the SEC Championship when AU’s Maria Martinez won the individual title with a 211. Marci Turner of Tennessee was the runner-up and Margaret Shirley of Auburn won third place.
The SEC Championship marked the last scheduled event of the season for the team. Selections for the NCAA Regionals will be announced on May 1, when the Tide will learn whether or not they will be invited to compete in NCAA post season play for the first time since 2004.
