Tide Completes Practice Round at NCAA East Regional
5/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The Crimson Tide women’s golf team, appearing in its second NCAA regional in as many years under head coach Mic Potter, completed its practice round on Wednesday afternoon at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La., in preparation for the opening of competition on Thursday, May 10.
The Tide was selected to compete in the East regional for the second straight year after a spring season that saw the team finish in the top five in each of its five events, accomplishing that feat for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign.
The field at the regional is arguably the most difficult in the nation, with nine of the 21 teams at the event ranked in the most recent Golfworld/NGCA top 25 poll. Included among the competitors is Duke, the two-time defending national champions, in addition to Pac 10 runner-up UCLA and the Big 12 champions from Texas A&M.
“Hopefully, we’ve learned in playing against strong fields all year is that even though all of these teams are very good, they can’t defend us,” Potter said. “We talk about it all the time and work on it all year long, because that is what the postseason comes down to. No matter what our talent level is, we have the ability to do one thing better than the rest of the teams in this field and that is to manage ourselves and our emotions. If we can stay in the present and manage ourselves, we should be fine.”
Fortunately for Alabama, the team has gained some familiarity with the course. The Tide regularly competes at the LSU/Cleveland Classic in Baton Rouge, and has seen its share of success at the location as of late. Alabama finished fifth in the fall of 2006 and equaled that achievement again this spring.
“The course is playing shorter and faster than it was in March, even though they have had some rain here recently,” Potter said. “The greens are at a great speed for us and are very similar to the ones we practice on at home, so we seem pretty comfortable today. Hopefully that continues tomorrow.”
The regional appearance marks the 15th time in as many seasons that Potter has guided a team to postseason play and the second for the Hall of Fame coach at Alabama. In 2006, his first season as head coach at UA, Potter, who was named SEC Co-Coach of the Year last month, led the Tide to its first NCAA Championship appearance since 1987 after a surprising eighth-place finish at the regional. In his career, Potter has directed 16 teams to NCAA Championship berths.
First-round play at the East regional is slated to begin at 8:10 a.m. on Thursday. The Tide is slated to tee off at that time, playing alongside Wake Forest, South Carolina and Virginia.
