Tide Completes Second Practice Round at NCAA Championship
5/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ?? The University of Alabama women's golf team completed its second practice round on Monday in preparation for the opening of the 2007 NCAA Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Tide earned its second Championship berth in as many seasons and the third in school history after a seventh-place finish at the NCAA East regional in Baton Rouge, La., earlier this month.
"Two days of practice rounds is a lot, so we tried to structure it a little different this year," Alabama head coach Mic Potter said. "We only played nine holes today to get a little more rest and relaxed. I think the team is tired of practicing, they are anxious to get out there and compete. I think we are well-rested and ready to go, so we'll see what happens tomorrow."
The 2007 NCAA Championship is being played on the LPGA International Legends Course, a par-72, 6,351-yard course that annually hosts the LPGA Qualifying School competition. Teams were allowed a practice round on Sunday and Monday prior to commencing first-round play on Tuesday.
"We are competing against a lot of teams who played here in the fall, which I felt might be a disadvantage for us coming in," Potter said. "But I think those teams are finding a different golf course that what was here in September, so I feel like we are all coming on an equal footing. The course itself is a little like the course at LSU, with Bermuda greens and not much rough, which I think suits us well."
Alabama faces the 24-team Championship field after a record-setting spring season. The Tide finished in the top five in each of its first four regular-season events and logged a fifth-place finish at the SEC Championship, its best finish at that event since 1998. The team set a 54-hole scoring record in the fall after shooting a 285 at the Cougar Classic in September.
Two-time defending national champion Duke headlines the field. The Blue Devils started slowly at the East regional, but put together two outstanding rounds to win the team title at the event. Five SEC teams are in the field, including the Tide, Auburn, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
"It's a long tournament, lasting four days, so your ability to focus is at a premium," Potter said. "I think that is something we are pretty good at, so if we have any advantages coming in, those would be the ability to play one shot at a time, play with focus and not giving up."
Potter, the 2007 SEC Co-Coach of the Year, leads a team into Championship play for the 17th time in his Hall-of-Fame career. He led Furman to 15 appearances, including a runner-up finish in 1988, and led the Tide to its second and third Championship berths in school history the past two seasons.
In 2006, Alabama finished 24th at the Championship after surprising the East regional field with a playoff victory over Virginia to advance to the nationals for the first time since 1987.
The Tide tees off in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Championship on Tuesday, May 22, at 12:20 p.m. (EDT). Alabama is paired with Tennessee and Pepperdine in the first two rounds of action, with teams being shuffled before round three according to the standings after 36 holes.
Live stats can be tracked at www.golfstat.com or on the official tournament web site, http://ucfathletics.cstv.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/07-ncaa-championship.html.
