Tide Women?s Golf Team Advances to NCAA Championship
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
BATON ROUGE, La. ?? For just the third time in school history but the second in as many years under head coach Mic Potter, the University of Alabama women’s golf team has advanced to the NCAA Championship following its seventh-place finish at the NCAA East regional in Baton Rouge, La., this weekend. The Tide posted rounds of 287, 289 and 292 to finish with a 54-hole score of 868 and earn its Championship berth.
“I don’t necessarily think there were any bad conditions today, we just hit a few loose shots here and there and got in some tough spots,” Potter said. “We had a few bogeys in the last few holes again, like we did yesterday, but it was kind of tense coming back in there. We knew we needed to beat Louisville to ensure ourselves a spot, so beating them by two was a huge relief.”
Alabama turned in its highest score of the three-day event in Saturday’s final round, but it was easily good enough to earn Alabama a spot among the top eight teams and move it to the NCAA Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla., on May 22-25.
Last season, the Tide earned its way via a dramatic playoff victory over Virginia after tying the Cavaliers after 54 holes. A solid third-round effort in 2007, however, allowed the Tide to move on without having to resort to any overtime theatrics.
“I think that when you compare our team last year to this one, there is no question that we are better this season, when you judge what we did this spring,” Potter said. “We have some experienced veterans, but ironically, it was a freshman and a sophomore that led us today, so we feel very good about the fact that we have that kind of depth and talent on this team.”
Heading the 21-team field, which featured more top-25 teams than any other of the three regionals throughout the nation this weekend, was two-time defending champion Duke. The Blue Devils stormed back after struggling in the opening round and defeated runner-up UCLA by two strokes.
Wake Forest finished third with an 858, Auburn was fourth after an 861 and Purdue and North Carolina tied for fifth place with identical scores of 862. Alabama finished with an 868, three shots ahead of Louisville, who posted an 870 and held on to the eighth and final qualifying spot in the East regional.
For the third time in as many days, Alabama saw a fresh face step up to shoot the team’s lowest round of the day. On Saturday, it was sophomore Laura Goodwin’s turn. Goodwin, who was cruising to her best round of the season before struggling down the stretch in Friday’s second round, overcame that obstacle in the final round, firing a 1-under 71 for the day.
Goodwin recorded birdies on the second and 13th holes and had just one bogey on the round. She had a 75 on the opening day, turned in an even-par 72 on Saturday and finished with a 54-hole score of 218 to tie for 36th place individually. The 218 was her second-lowest three-round score of the season, just one shot off of her best of 217 in the opening event of the fall campaign.
Another spark for the Tide all weekend was true freshman Helena Blomberg, a native of Sweden who was competing in her first postseason event. Blomberg fired a 1-over 73 in the final round to go with her scores of 73 and 71 to give her a three-day score of 217, a new career low and a tie for 25th place on the individual leader board.
Although she struggled a bit with her putter, senior All-American Jenny Suh continued to provide solid leadership for her team. Suh shot identical rounds of 74 on the final two days of action to go with her 3-under opening round of 69. She finished tied with Blomberg at 25th place with a 217, her best 54-hole finish since late February.
Junior Sarah Sturm shot a 4-over 76 on Saturday, but managed to stay in the top 50 in the individual standings. The Tide’s other true freshman, Rhea Nair, shot a 74 in the final round, matching her first-round score and putting her in a 54th-place individually.
Potter, the Co-Coach of the Year in the SEC this season, now has led 17 teams to the NCAA Championship in his Hall-of-Fame career. After taking the helm in Tuscaloosa in the summer of 2005, he has helped the Tide earn two straight trips to the Championship for the first time in program history after ending a 19-year drought in 2006.
“Everything we do all season is geared toward getting our team to the NCAA Championship,” Potter said. “Sometimes we might sacrifice some results earlier in the season to get us there, but it’s all done for this. I think it says a lot for our players and our program to continue to do things that have never been done here and it’s something we’re very proud of.”
The 2007 NCAA Championship is set to be played on the LPGA International Course in Daytona Beach, Fla., on May 22-25. The Tide’s travel information and practice and tee times will be released when they are made available by the NCAA.
