Tide Women?s Golfers Selected to East Regional
4/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? After a record-setting regular season, the University of Alabama women’s golf team earned its second straight post-season berth when the NCAA announced that the Tide will compete at the East regional at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La., on May 10-12.
Alabama is the seventh seed at the East regional, which includes four Southeastern Conference teams in the field. Auburn, South Carolina and the hosts from LSU were the other league competitors selected. The East field also includes two-time defending national champion Duke, the top seed at the event.
“Last year we were the 11th seed and this year we are the seventh, so obviously we are in a better situation,” said Alabama head coach Mic Potter. “But, the field is very good and by far the strongest one I’ve seen. We are going to have to play really well and be on top of our game. We can’t worry about the field and what everyone else is shooting, we just need to concentrate on ourselves and everything else will follow.”
Perennial Pac 10 contender UCLA is the second seed, with Auburn, Purdue and Texas A&M rounding out the top five in the bracket. North Carolina is seeded sixth, one spot ahead of Alabama. South Carolina is the ninth seed and LSU is seeded 11th.
The selection is the ninth in school history and the fifth since 2001 for the Tide women. For Potter, the regional berth is his second in as many years as head coach at UA and marks the 14th consecutive appearance by a team under his direction. The Hall of Fame coach has now led a team to a regional bid in each season since the format came into inception in 1993.
A year ago, the Tide also competed at the East regional, earning its first NCAA Championship berth since 1987 by finishing in eighth place following a dramatic one-hole playoff victory over Virginia.
Alabama has played well at the University Club in recent years. In the spring of 2006, the Tide set a then-school record for 18 holes with a team score of 290 en route to a top-five finish at the LSU/Cleveland Classic. At the same event this season, UA earned another fifth-place finish after carding an 899 for 54 holes.
“I think the girls all knew when we went there in March that it was the regional site and that it was a high quality field, so it was almost like a practice session for the regional,” Potter said. “The stress is always there, but this is a group of girls that does a great job of not letting the past or future effect them. I don’t worry about them too much.”
The schedule at the East regional begins on Wednesday, May 9, with a practice round. First-round action is slated to open at 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 10 and is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, May 12.
The top eight teams from each of the three regional competitions throughout the nation qualify for the 2007 NCAA Championship, scheduled to be played at the LPGA International Golf Course in Daytona Beach, Fla., on May 22-25.
