Tide Women in Sixth Place at NCAA East Regional
5/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
BATON ROUGE, La. ?? The University of Alabama women's golf team shot a school record for NCAA competition and came two strokes away from setting the all-time 18-hole mark in the first round of the NCAA East regional in Baton Rouge, La. Alabama stands in a tie for sixth place in the team standings at the University Club, with the top eight teams advancing to the NCAA Championship later this month.
"It was a good solid start for us today," said head coach Mic Potter. "We had it down to 4-under at one point, and even though I wish we could have kept it there, we started out a little slow, so we are pretty happy with where we are. This tournament is one though, where we have to go out and move forward and make birdies. We can't wait around and hope that other teams have bad rounds."
The Tide carded a 1-under 287 on the opening day, the lowest single round for an Alabama team in NCAA play. The score bettered the previous mark of 293, set in the second round of last year's East regional in Greensboro, N.C.
Competing in a field that features more top-25 teams than any other regional in the country this weekend, Alabama is tied with hosting LSU in the team standings. Sixth-ranked UCLA leads the field after 18 holes with a 281, followed by No. 20 Wake Forest and Furman, Potter's former team. Purdue is in fourth with Louisville in fifth place, one shot ahead of the Tide and LSU.
Alabama's record-setting effort was a complete team performance. The squad's high and low scores were separated by just six strokes, with two UA players finishing under par and no player finishing more than three shots over par.
"I think the greens here are very similar to our practice greens at home, so that make us pretty comfortable on this course," Potter said. "I think the holes just set up well for us, we've played it a lot and there aren't too many surprises for us by now. You have to get yourself mentally ready here and know where the hole locations are, but I think we have a pretty good comfort level with the course."
The Tide's most experienced veterans led the team on the opening day of the East regional. Senior Jenny Suh and junior Sarah Sturm, who together have played in three regional and three NCAA Championships during their careers together at Furman and Alabama, each finished under par on Thursday.
Suh, who was named first team All-SEC for the second time last week, put together her best round of the spring season. The All-American had three birdies in her first six holes of the day, on holes one, two and six. She was rock solid down the stretch, carding pars in the other 15 holes of the round to finish with a 3-under 69 and tying her for eighth in the individual standings.
That score marked the third time this season that Suh shot below 70 in a round and the first since a 69 at the Mason Rudolph Championship in October. It was also the fifth round in the 60's in NCAA competition for Suh and equals the school record she set at last year's East regional for the best single round for a Tide player in NCAA competition.
"Jenny talks a lot about confidence and I think that was the biggest key for her," Potter said. "She hit the ball a lot better today and birdied the first two holes, which was important for that confidence. As usual, she was very solid and consistent, which was what we expected from her out here today."
Sturm fired five birdies on the day, including three on the back nine en route to her 1-under 71. She scored a double bogey on the sixth hole and tallied bogeys on holes two and nine to go with 10 pars. The 71 equaled her previous best at an NCAA event, which she recorded last season as a sophomore. Her 71 puts her in a tie for 16th place on the individual leader board.
True freshman Helena Blomberg, who led the Tide at each of its last two events, posted a 1-over 73 in her first round of NCAA competition. Blomberg fired a pair of birdies on the front nine and had three bogeys down the stretch on the round. She is in a 34thplace tie individually.
Rhea Nair, the other true freshman on the Tide roster, shot a 2-over 74 in her opening round, posting three bogeys and a birdie on the 13th hole. Sophomore Laura Goodwin recorded two birdies on the back nine en route to a 75 for UA.
The second of three rounds at the NCAA East regional is set to begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 10.
Live stats are available at www.golfstat.com.
